Can anyone take the wheel at TransLink?

It was earlier this week TransLink revealed a damaged power connector shut down Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain system, plunging the city into another rather predictable round of commuter chaos.

Previously a bird's nest and a blown breaker have been blamed for similar shut downs, which riders have come to expect will last several hours at a time.

That's left angry commuters stuck in SkyTrain cars and on platforms, with plenty of time to wonder if anyone is actually taking responsibility for fixing the aging system.

It is not like there isn't a road map. It was almost exactly a year ago that former CEO of Toronto's GoTransit system, Gary MacNeil, issued his independent review on how to fix the system.

McNeil identified two factors causing extended delays on the 30-year-old system. First, there is very little redundancy built into SkyTrain, which means even when small parts break down, the entire system is paralyzed.

Secondly, opportunities to upgrade the SkyTrain, such as with auto-start technology, have been missed. As a result, after each shutdown, each train has to be manually restarted — a process which takes several hours.

After the much anticipated report came out last November, TransLink's then-CEO Ian Jarvis was quick to promise action, including a plan to implement all 20 recommendations over the next five years.

A promise made. A CEO dismissed

Problem solved, right? Not so fast.

Shortly after promising to fix the system, Jarvis was fired as CEO, and since then there has been a revolving door at the corner office at TransLink's New Westminster HQ.

Jarvis was followed by interim CEO Doug Allen, who was soon replaced with acting CEO Cathy McLay, who sounded downright nervous when she spoke to the media about the latest breakdown on Tuesday.  

And who can blame her? Along with the CEOs, there have been so many heads lopped off in the TransLink C-suites, those that remain might have more pressing concerns than making long term plans to fix the system — like keeping their Linkedin profile up to date.

Incidentally, according to MacNeil's report, the price of just upgrading SkyTrain's troubled infrastructure systems is just over $25 million, with a total bill of $71 million to implement all of his twenty recommendations.

Spread over five years, in rough terms that works out to about one per cent of TransLink's annual $1.4 billion budget.

So why is apparently nothing being done?

SFU urban studies Professor Anthony Perl says the answer is simple: cash flow. For years TransLink has been so under funded it's been unable to invest properly in SkyTrain without drawing cash out other essentials.

"It is not a great position to be in," he notes.

Will anyone take the wheel?

And that's where commuters are being left on the side of the road, staring forlornly at their compass cards, asking if anyone is really driving this troubled organization.

For those unfamiliar with its inner workings, TransLink is built much like a driving instructor's car — with two steering wheels — and it's been stuffed to the roof with drivers.

In front of one wheel sit nine unelected members of the board of directors and the CEO du jour, who are supposed to steer through day-to-day operations.

In front of the other steering wheel are the 21 Metro Vancouver mayors (not known for getting along at the best of times) who make up the Mayors' Council.

You only need an L permit to see this is a troublesome way to try to get anywhere.

But it gets worse. The mayors have been told they can't have the key, at least not until voters approve their plans in a referendum.

And since voters gave the mayor's transit tax a thumbs down last fall, those mayors have largely been sitting on their hands, and complaining the darn thing is just broken.

As Perl points out in his own words, "That leaves TransLink stuck down a dead end, with nobody willing to take the wheel."

Is there a minister responsible for TransLink?

So if TransLink is not moving forward, who is responsible for getting it rolling again?

Earlier this year the premier appeared to answer that question when she named Peter Fassbender as the first-ever Minister Responsible for TransLink.

With a title like that, voters might expect some some significant action.

No so fast, once again.

"I clearly said to the mayors, I am not prepared to change the governance again on the TransLink board, or in the relationship of the mayors' council, or the relationship with the provincial government. I don't believe governance is the issue," Fassbender told the a meeting of the Urban Board of Trade earlier this month

On a road to nowhere

The result, according to NDP TransLink critic George Heyman, is a broken down organization with no clear direction.

"Nobody in Metro Vancouver knows what the next step is and the minister refuses to tell us," says Heyman. "He won't tell us how we are going to address the problems. He won't tell us how we are going to fund the improvements in the system."

At SFU, Perl agrees, reiterating it is up to TransLink's creator to get the system back on track — at that is the provincial government.

"It means that the province ultimately has to deal with the situation," he says. "The question in my mind is how much worse does it have to get for that to happen?"

And that's a question many SkyTrain riders will likely be asking themselves next time they are stuck on a crowded platform, or locked in a stalled train, waiting for someone to step up and take the wheel of this troubled organization.