I've applied to TransLink's Board of Directors

As you may have heard, three vacancies recently opened up on TransLink's Board of Directors. I decided to apply because we need to make sure that the concerns of residents in Surrey are heard each time that important decisions are made at the TransLink Board. In case you're curious what my qualifications are, and what my key reasons are for applying, I've included a copy of my cover letter below.

The Caldwell Partners
Suite 850, 1095 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC
V6E 2M6

To Whom It May Concern:

I am interested in serving as a member of the Board of Directors for TransLink. I most recently served as a member of the Alma Mater Society’s Board of Directors for three years, and I am currently serving as President of the Alma Mater Society Foundation, a charitable group. I have a wealth of financial experience, having served on committees that dealt with budgets from the size of $180,000 to $11 Million. I have an in-depth knowledge of municipal land use planning, zoning and public processes, having written my thesis on land use and planning in Surrey’s City Centre while studying at the University of British Columbia. I also consider myself an expert in urban transportation, and will be one of eighty participants in the Canadian Urban Transit Association’s upcoming Summit on Urban Transportation.

I am passionate about transportation issues in Metro Vancouver, and I believe that I will bring a unique perspective to the Board, as an active rider of public transit, and as someone who lives south of the Fraser. There are unique challenges that people living south of the Fraser, and especially in Surrey, face given Translink’s new governance structure. We are the ones paying extremely high fares, per kilometre, buying two-zone fares for a one-station trip on Skytrain from Scott Road to Columbia Station. We are the ones who will, in the not-too-distant future, be faced with exorbitant tolls every time we cross the Port Mann, Patullo, and Golden Ears bridges. We are the ones who, according to Transport 2040, will be served by only six Frequent Transit Network routes in the year 2040- Vancouver will be served by over thirty- even though we will be the ones coping with extreme population growth.

I have the time, and the interest, to do an excellent job serving on TransLink’s Board of Directors, and I would effectively represent residents in Metro Vancouver who live south of the Fraser River. If TransLink is to succeed as an organization, it must begin to adequately address the needs of the ever-growing populations in the Fraser Valley. Surrey is predicted to outstrip Vancouver in terms of population size much before 2040, and our funding levels ought to reflect this fact. I also recognize that TransLink is facing an urgent crisis in funding because of decreasing overall revenues from the gas tax, and that sustainable land use and development by municipalities must go hand-in-hand with sustainable transportation planning if we are to succeed in meeting the region’s environmental targets.

I believe that I will prove to be an asset to the TransLink team. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,


Stephanie Ryan