The recent letter claiming it would take 91 years to recoup the cost for the SkyTrain fare gates has a lot of inconsistencies.
First, the $171-million capital cost is for both the fare gates and the system-wide Compass smart card system, not the fare gates exclusively.
Secondly, the numbers do add up. There are many monetary benefits to the system aside from just reducing fare evasion, which are explained in the business case document for Compass and the fare gates. You can find this in the document library on TransLink’s website or through a link on my blog at darylvsworld.wordpress.com.
Thirdly, with $70 million of the project funding coming from senior levels of government, it’s hard to believe that the project could have moved forward at all if there was no business case and no return for the money.
Many of the complaints on Metro Vancouver transit decisions I have seen have been based on large misinterpretations. If more people did their research on Metro Vancouver’s transit “issues” before complaining, they would see that a lot of recent decisions do make sense.
I’m looking forward to a better and more reliable transit system once the Compass card system is in full swing.
Daryl Dela Cruz