Surrey - The Editor, Having just arrived home from Abbotsford where I saved myself $10 on my gas fuel-up, I couldn't help but reflect on the audacity of our public officials pushing for a "Yes" vote in the transit plebiscite while lying to us about how "everyone" is going to pay their fair share of the proposed transit improvements.
It has galled me for years that my family, friends and work colleagues who live up the valley - yet use Metro roads, highways and bridges - get to pay far less for their transit use to and from work than the rest of us.Now we are told that, not only are the people living up the valley and working in the Metro area getting a free ride, but the government intends to spend $2.5 billion on "rural transportation" initiatives. Are the people livingupcountry going to pay for this themselves, or are those of us living in the Metro area once again going to foot that bill too?Politicians telling me that it is fair to expect only certain people to pay a "provincial sales tax" while others living in the same province get to pay less, is the number one reason I am voting "No."The second reason is that, once again, Surrey gets shafted when it comes to the quality of the type of transportation extension being proposed. We got to pay for those north of us to have buses and SkyTrain and now we are told we will get an "at-grade" system, which will take away a driving lane on two of our busiest streets.Surreyites have forked over a half a billion dollars over the past decade to transit and now we are told we are toexpect a second-rate system years down the road.For me, the only option is to vote "No."Arlene Laing, Surrey