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News Release

For Release: I!Dmediately Contact: Ken Hardie July 6, 2011 Phone: (604) 453-4606

TransLink to roll-out updated transportation expansion plan

-- Plan up for public comment; includes funding for the Evergreen Line plus other expansion

TransLink is set to unveil an updated plan to expand Metro 's transit system and sustain funding for Major Road Network and cycling network improvements.

The plan, titled 'Moving Forward,' was originally rolled out in the fall of 2010 in a series of public events held around the region as well as an internet-based process that gathered thousands of comments.

Moving Forward received strong public and stakeholder endorsement, but lacked an approved funding formula needed to support it. With the announcement earlier today that the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation and the provincial government have agreed on a way to provide $70 million in additional annual revenue, TransLink will bring back the plan for a final round of public comment over the next two weeks.

In addition to gathering comments via its web site, TransLink will hold a region-wide 'webinar' - an internet-based audio/video program providing full details of the Moving th Forward plan - scheduled for 7 pm on Tuesday, July 19 , The webinar will include e­ mail and phone-in feedback to the TransLink planners, who will moderate the session and report the results back to the Board of Directors and the Mayors' Council.

If ultimately approved by the Mayors' Council, the plan will provide Metro Vancouver's $400 million share of funding for the Evergreen Line SkyTrain extension from the Lougheed Town Centre to Coquitlam Town Centre. With that funding committed, the way will be cleared for construction to begin on the Evergreen Line project. ATTACHMENT A Page 2 of 2 A number of other projects will improve transit services across the region:

Major upgrades to the Main Street, Metrotown, New Westminster and Surrey Central SkyTrain stations More SeaBus service - sailings every 15 minutes every day plus three-vessel service for special events Over 200,000 additional transit service hours for the South of Fraser region; 425,000 hours region-wide A new B-Line service from to Guildford Town Centre in Surrey plus· a new bus route from White Rock to Langley serving Grandview Heights Highway #1 RapidBus service from Langley to the Lougheed SkyTrain Line station, coincided to launch with the completion of the new Port Mann Bridge and Highway #1 expansion Additional bus service to improve frequency and address overcrowding, including on U-Pass Be routes.

The Moving Forward plan will allow TransLink to maintain $6 million in annual funding for cycling network capital projects and $20 million per year to co-fund Major Road Network improvements with municipalities.

As part of the process for updating the plan, TransLink will review major financial assumptions to ensure the sustainability of the current system and levels of service as well as the proposed expansion.

The Mayors' Council and the province have agreed on a funding formula for the plan that includes a 2 cent per litre increase in motor fuel taxes in April 2012 plus, by 2013, either a property tax increase averaging about $23 per year for the average Metro Vancouver residential property or a new, long-term source of funding.

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