Minutes of the Meeting of Probus Club Vancouver held at the Point Grey Golf & Country Club, 3350 Southwest Marine Drive, Vancouver on Tuesday the 12th day of January 2010 at 10:00 AM.

1.  Calling the Meeting to Order.  
	Nick Thornton, the President, called the meeting to order at 10:15AM, with 131 persons present.  Ted Horsey acted as secretary to the meeting

2.  Announcements.  
	(a)  The Chairman announced the agenda for today: Ken Hardie of TransLink will be the speaker; that it is the 13th anniversary of the founding of the Probus Club Vancouver; that we will thank and propose a toast to our past presidents; that a special presentation will be made; and that the issue of parking meters at the MacMillan Space Centre is still on-going.
	(b)  John Cruickshank, the Chairman of the Activities Committee announced that the Committee was planning a day trip in March to the campus of Quest University in Squamish.  
	He also announced that he will be passing out a card giving instructions for registering for Probus Activities events, including instructions for getting into the Website. These are: enter user name "member" then the password "probus1".  The dedicated Probus activity telephone line for registering for Probus Activities events is "604-568-8500". 

3.  Guest Speaker -Ken Hardie, TransLink.
	Our guest speaker, Ken Hardie, the Director of Communications for TransLink was introduced by David Scott.  Mr. Hardie's curriculum vitae is in the Vancouver Probus Club January Newsletter.
	Mr. Hardie joined TransLink (short for full name "South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority") in 1999, just six months after it was formed.  He proposed to tell us TransLink's story: (a) where TransLink has been, (b) where it is today, and (c) where it is going.  He said that proposals for the future might be a little provocative.
	TransLink has less that 300 employees, and is downsizing.  Its staff members are mainly planners, financial analysts, and engineers.  Its duties are to plan and finance the transit system; and to support municipalities by providing funding to operate, maintain, improve and expand Metro Vancouver's major arterial road network of the main streets that move goods, services and people between municipalities (for example, Kingsway, Hastings, and the Fraser Highway).  For the past five years, TransLink has been the second biggest road builder in the province.  
	Most of TransLink's public services are delivered by the two main operating subsidiaries:  Coast Mountain Bus Company Ltd. and BC Rapid Transit Company.  TransLink also uses "alternate service delivery models", that is it works with contractors and the private sector.  Three of its most successful Public / Private Partnerships are : the Canada Line, the Golden Ears Bridge, and AirCare.  TransLink also is responsible for HandyDART, West Coast Express, the West Vancouver Blue Bus and some community shuttle routes.  It services Canada's largest metropolitan service area -- three times the size of metro Toronto, and far less densely populated.   This is a challenge for public transit.

History of TransLink.  In the late 1950's there was talk about the Province building freeways in greater Vancouver.  When plans were developed to put a freeway through Mt. Pleasant / Strathcona areas there was so much public opposition that the City of Vancouver concluded that there should be no freeways in the city.
	Dr. Walter Hardwick called for an agency with the power to set priorities, and coordinate proposals by the GVRD, the municipalities and the Province, and also to finance and operate new transportation facilities.  He said that decisions should be made at the regional scale rather than the provincial scale, that decisions should not be so removed from the local level that citizen participation is not possible.  The concept of a regional transportation authority came into focus after the GVRD created the Livable Region Strategic Plan during the time Gordon Campbell was mayor of Vancouver.  Finally, in 1999, George Puill, then a Vancouver Councilor and chairman of the GVRD, pushed through the formation of TransLink as the catalyst that would shape the future of metro Vancouver.
	TransLink is one of the few agencies anywhere in the world that has roads and goods movement responsibilities, along with public transit.  With BC Transit as a foundation, TransLink was to provide a multi-modal transit service where people could transfer easily from one mode to the next.  TransLink was given, by statute, a variety of sources of revenue (including transit fares and taxation), with a combination of provincial and municipal decision-making.

Present Status of TransLink.  TransLink has had some problems since its formation.  There have been problems with a vehicle levy approval from the Provincial Government; and there has been the longest transit strike in the region's history.  TransLink has undertaken a massive road and transit expansion, knowing that it would have to raise sufficient funds for the expansion.  However in January 2010 the public approval rating of TransLink was 75% across Metro Vancouver, with 88% in the City of Vancouver.  TransLink is in constant dialogue with people of Metro Vancouver about what the region needs, and generally the public has approved the expansions planned, as opposed to a "do-nothing" option.  
	The governance of TransLink is through a Board of Directors, appointed by a council of the mayors of municipalities in the GVRD.  The Council also appoints a commissioner (currently Martin Crilly) to report to them on the affairs of TransLink.  Fund-raising through taxation is subject to the approval of the Provincial government. 
	TransLink is now entering into a period of consolidation; revenue increases that the Mayors' Council approved in October 2009 having eliminated a structural deficit that had threatened the expansion over the past five years.  Now further expansion is on hold.  The focus is on efficiencies, refining services in terms of transit routes, schedules, the make-up of the fleet and supporting road improvements, with a priority on goods movement.

Outlook for the Future.  The GRVD population will increase by about a million people in the next 20 years (from about 2 million to about 3 million), adding on average one more vehicle to a finite road system every 23 minutes.  Traffic congestion is a concern, costing about $4 to $5 billion a year in lost time and additional costs.  When the time comes for further transit and road expansion, there will probably be further discussion on a fundamental shift in attitudes towards our use of roads.  
	Traditionally government builds roads, pays for it with taxes, and it's "free" from that point forward, except for maintenance.  As the demand for road space increases, and the supply remains the same we end up with rationing, which is in the form of traffic congestion.
	Some suggest we need to think about managing the demand-side management, using price to manage demand on the road system by doing two things -- influence shifts away from driving, and properly funding alternatives.  Like the cell phone network, we should look at putting a price on the way we use our roads, based on the length of our trips and the time of day we travel.  We can't do without cars.  Cars, buses, SkyTrains and SeaBuses are a part of our transportation system, as are roads, bridges, and traffic signals.  Our region has grown up to be mainly car dependent and a lot of things -- as foreseen in the Livable Region Plan -- are going to have to change before transit becomes a viable option for many.
	Thanks to the Livable Region Plan we are one of the few areas in North America to seriously use transportation to shape growth and development.  We have created compact communities and promoted residential density around our rapid transit stations. We are much more advanced than many other places promoting residential density around job locations.
	The question now is: when it's time to expand our transportation network again, are we prepared to combine both supply-side and demand-side principles?  Are there other measures that would be more politically palatable?  Are we prepared to do what it takes to achieve our goal of a livable, sustainable region -- or will we be content to chase a moving target?  

	After questions, George Adams thanked the speaker.

4.  Pidge McBride - Honourary Life Member. 
	 The Chairman awarded Pidge McBride an Honourary Life Membership in the Club.  He reviewed Pidge McBride's background as a schoolboy in Vancouver; in the Royal Canadian Navy during the War; during a long and successful career, culminating as the VP Food Operations of Woodwards's Stores; and his work with Probus.  He is added to the list of persons so honoured, the others being:  Brice Macdougall, Fred Cotton, Doug Lambert, John Hoyle, and Roy Williams. 

5.  Past Presidents.  
	The Chairman recognized and honoured the Past Presidents of our Club: George Adams, Fred Cotton, Dennis Creighton, Ted Daem, Don Farquhar, Jack Farley, John Hopkins, Pidge McBride, Tom McCusker, Gordon Thom, Norm Weitzel, and Roy Williams.

6.  Newsletter Copy Deadline.  
	Material for the February Newsletter must be in Roy Williams hands no later than Thursday 21 January 2010.

	There being no further business, the meeting then terminated.

______________________
Nick Thornton, Chairman

______________________
Ted Horsey, Secretary.