Everyone is looking for a Plan B now that Metro Vancouver residents have rejected paying extra sales tax to fund expanded transit services in the region.
Mitchell Sayers may have a solution. Kind of.
The Burnaby resident has created an Indiegogo campaign to raise $250 million for TransLink.
"You emphatically filled out the voting form and checked the 'YES' vote. You spent your time and money driving to the post office. Just because some people don't want their quality of life to improve, doesn't mean they should spoil it for the rest of us," says Sayers' online pitch.
"Join me in raising money to improve Translink. If you use it! Donate towards it!"
Sayers, who works in freelance media production, admits, "It's tongue-in-cheek, of course, but it does raise the question if people are willing to actually contribute and change things themselves, or just rely on traditional methods like voting and government and politics."
About 62 per cent of people who mailed in referendum ballots turned down the idea of paying an extra half-per-cent sales tax to raise $7.5 billion for transit upgrades, including more buses and a subway extension.
According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the winning No side spent $40,000 while the Yes side spent over $5.8 million promoting its stance.
Sayers, 23, said the crowdfunding campaign is "to see if actually people are that passionate and sincere about their want for change, want for improvement" step up.
Sayers has used transit his whole life, including taking six buses a day to commute between Burnaby and North Vancouver for high school. He said he voted no in the transit referendum because of TransLink's poor track record.
The Indiegogo campaign will receive funds only if the full $250 million goal is met by deadline.
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