TransLink provides transport-related services within its defined service region, and is responsible for planning their provision and funding. Its governing statute is the
 South Coast British Columbia Regional Transportation Authority Act
of the Province of British Columbia.

Services
provided through TransLink

TransLink:

• provides public transit via:
• bus-operating subsidiary Coast Mountain Bus Company Ltd.
• SkyTrain operating subsidiary BC Rapid Transit Co. Ltd.
• commuter rail operating subsidiary West Coast Express Ltd.
• HandyDART shared-ride transit service for customers with disabilities via contractors; 
• Community shuttle minibus services via contractors; and
• “Blue Bus” service of the District of West Vancouver;
• manages the region’s major road network, including bridges and the Albion Ferry;
• undertakes a programme of transportation demand management measures; and
• operates a vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program through its Air Care subsidiary.

Planning
the services and their funding

TransLink:

• must prepare a long range strategy looking forward thirty years or more, and an annually updated rolling ten-year strategic plan of transportation services, projects and other commitments with associated financial plans:-

30+ Year Strategy

• must be updated every 5 years
• must be approved by Board
• reviewed by the Mayors’ Council
• Transport 2040 is the current strategy

10 Year Strategic Plan

• updated annually
• equals last year’s Base Plan + any approved Supplement(s)*
• Base Plan must be approved by TransLink Board
• reviewed annually by Commission for the reasonableness of its assumptions and parameters
• Here is a link to download the 2009 version of the 10-year plan

*A Supplement (i.e. “supplemental plan”) contains changes to the current year’s rolling 10-year plan for incorporation into the next year’s rolling 10-year plan. Those changes could be in TransLink’s services, capital projects and other initiatives for one or more of the 10 years.

The Supplement must show any extra costs involved by year; it must be explicit on how these would be funded each year, including any new tax rates required, e.g. in property taxes, vehicle levy, fuel tax, other taxes, fare increases, increased borrowing or draw-down on reserves.

Supplements must be approved by the TransLink Board and Mayors’ Council; fare increases, if any, over 2% per year must also be approved by the Commission. Generally, TransLink is required to consult with the public, government and stakeholders in the service region as these plans are created.

The Act provides an annual cycle. For instance, supplements proposed by TransLink in July 2009 would be reviewed for reasonableness (of their assumptions and parameters) by the Commission in August 2009. If approved by the Mayors’ Council in October 2009, a supplement would change the 10-year plan as it rolls over from its 2009 version to its 2010 version.