TransLink salaries published. CEO Ian Jarvis made $468,015 in 2013

Trolley bus at Renfrew Station

Right before the start of the Labour Day weekend, TransLink posted the salaries of its executives, board and employees who earned more than $75,000. Nestled at the end of this 74page report, a table was included to show the total compensation in 2013 received by the 7 members of the executive. The top wage earner was CEO Ian Jarvis at $468,015; executive Fred Cummings received the least at $321,736. Here is a part of the table from the report:

TransLink exec 2013 salariesPrevious statements from TransLink had suggested no increases in compensation were in order. Global News reported “TransLink chair Marcella Szel previously stated that executive pay had been frozen at 2012 levels and that no bonuses would be handed out.”

The Skytrain system recently saw two system-wide outages on the Expo and Millennium lines in July. The $171 million $194 million FareGate and Compass card system has been delayed indefinitely because of technical issues. The new system was supposed to be operational by the Fall of 2013. Hikes in fares were announced and privacy worries over the compass card system still need to be addressed. It appears that TransLink’s executives have many issues to resolve; they are also overseeing the construction of the Evergreen Line to Coquitlam. The report also showed that TransLink has $2.043 Billion of Total Net Debt.

The financial report published the salaries for employees earning more than $75,000 in 2013. The compensation for the Board of Directors ranged from $45,029 to $101,688 (for former chair Nancy Olewiler).

Payments to suppliers over $25,000 are also listed in the financial report. Vision Critical Communications Inc., the firm employed by the City of Vancouver for “Talk Vancouver” was a TransLink supplier and billed $63,980 for services. The Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (“HUB“) received $160,470. Cubic Transportation Sytems Inc., the supplier of the problematic Compass Card technology, was paid $27,607,923.

Commercial Broadway Skytrain Station

A transit referendum might be up next year. Will the public have an appetite to raise taxes to provide more funding for transit?

For further information, please see the following media coverage: Continue reading

TransLink info sessions on Commercial-Broadway Station expansion June 3, 10 &12. Online survey

Commercial Broadway Station
TransLink has scheduled three information sessions on planned upgrades to the Commercial-Broadway Skytrain Station. These sessions will be held as follows:

June 3, 2014, Time: 3 – 7pm, Commercial-Broadway Station (North Station)
June 10, 2014, Time: 11am – 3pm, UBC Student Union Building
June 12, 2014, Time: 4 – 7pm, Croatian Cultural Centre, 3250 Commercial Dr

10th Avenue exitA survey will also be available online until June 16th at the following link:
translink.ca/commercialbroadway.

TransLink plans to add a second platform beside the Expo Line tracks (Safeway side) and another overhead walkway and connection to the Millennium Line. There are no plans to add a direct exit from the Millennium Line to North Grandview Highway.

Commercial-Broadway Station Phase 2 Board 4

For additional details on TransLink’s expansion plans, please see our previous posts: TransLink unveils $50million plan to renovate Commercial-Broadway Station and TransLink upgrades to Commercial-Broadway Station.

Crowd going up escalator