We have a new section on our website we’re excited to share: The Facts Matter.

Unlike most transit authorities in North America, TransLink’s mandate is more than just public transit. Besides the conventional buses, HandyDART, SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express fleets, we’re also responsible for the Major Roads Network, five bridges, cycling infrastructure and transit police.

Of course, readers of this blog know all this. But not everyone is as informed as Buzzer readers ;) .

What many aren’t familiar with are the details about how our public funds are spent in order to fulfill our mandate. That’s why we’ve added these facts to our website and are sharing them on social media and the transit system.

 The Facts Matter page on the TransLink website is a great resource for many of the questions our riders ask us on a regular bases. The facts on this page include:

• How TransLink spends taxpayers’ money
• How TransLink compares to other transit authorities
• How others, including our customers, describe TransLink’s performance
  
• How TransLink keeps costs down
• CEO compensation
• A breakdown of TransLink road and cycling investments by each geographical region in Metro Vancouver

As a public institution, it’s important to us that the public is informed about what TransLink does with public funds. Below is a breakdown of the how we spent your money in 2014.

So how do our 2014 investment numbers translate into the our vehicle fleet numbers?

Currently we have more than 2,100 vehicles in our different fleets. Follow this link to find the specific numbers of each vehicle fleet as of 2013. Our fleets fluctuate in size throughout the year and we audit the fleet numbers every two years. So we won’t have 2014 numbers until 2016.

Over the next few months, we’ll be posting and delving into the different facts in this series.

As always, we encourage your questions and will try our best to find answers for you.

Do you know someone who has questions about TransLink and how we invest in the transportation needs of Metro Vancouver? Please share these facts with them and encourage them to post a comment!