A business and tourism coalition and the B.C. government have rescued the controversial Richmond-Airport-Vancouver (RAV) rapid- transit line in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

After twice defeating proposals to build RAV, the TransLink board of directors voted 8-4 at a special meeting last week to approve the line – as long as it comes within the $1.35 billion of public funding available.

The province also agreed to live up to its $450-million commitment, despite earlier indications by Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon that the money might be spent elsewhere.

‘‘Today’s about the future of a strong transportation network for Greater Vancouver – and that’s great for British Columbia,’’ said Rick Antonson, president and chief executive officer of Tourism Vancouver, one of the leaders of the coalition that urged the province to save RAV.

RAV got the go-ahead June 30 after TransLink directors Raymond Louie, a Vancouver city councillor, and Barb Sharp, the mayor of North Vancouver, voted for the project after twice voting against it. Their votes were enough to sway the close decision.

Sharp said she changed her mind after it became ‘‘abundantly clear’’ that other options, such as light rail, were not workable.

‘‘If we can’t have light rail, because it won’t be as efficient to approve light rail, whether that’s Cambie (Street) or Arbutus (Street) or whatever other corridor, then why are we spinning our wheels?’’ asked Sharp. ‘‘Why aren’t we just making a decision on what we will do, as opposed to what we won’t do?’’ Sharp said the province interfered far more than it should have in a local decision and Victoria’s offer to take over RAV, which was rejected June 18, just added to the difficulty.

‘‘What you saw today, what we’ve been doing up to this point, has been democracy,’’ said Sharp. ‘‘It’s been discussion, debate, arguing about the issues, and that’s what I would think the public expects us to do.’’ RAV now proceeds to the best-and-final-offer stage whereby the last two bidders on the project, SNC-Lavalin and Bombardier, submit their final cost projections.

TransLink still can scuttle the deal if the project is not within budget, but the two companies are expected to keep their estimates in sync with funding from the province, federal government and Vancouver Airport Authority.

If all goes according to plan, the builder will also operate the line under a 30-year public-private partnership.

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, an outspoken opponent who voted against RAV for the third time, said the provincial Liberal government bullied the TransLink board into accepting the deal because Victoria was more concerned about ideology than fiscal responsibility.

‘‘They don’t care how it affects the taxpayer – as long as they look good to their right-wing friends,’’ said Corrigan, who said he believes the computer-operated, driverless SkyTrain system is inferior technology.

Corrigan, who favoured a light-rail option, said that after inviting the world to bid on RAV, it was ludicrous that only two companies – SNC-Lavalin and Bombardier – remained in the running for the contract.

He added ‘‘a lot of people’’ – implying the federal and provincial governments – wanted SNC-Lavalin and Bombardier, who collaborated on SkyTrain, to build RAV.

‘‘They’ve been joined at the hip for the last two decades in developing SkyTrain,’’ said Corrigan. ‘‘They did Expo line, they did Millennium line. To say the two are competitors is, in my view, absurd.

“I don’t believe they’re really competitors at all. I wouldn’t suggest that it’s a fixed bidding process. I’m saying that what they did is, they specified everybody else out of the process, so the only ones left that could accomplish it were SNC-Lavalin and Bombardier.’’ Making the specifications less onerous would have encouraged more companies to participate, he said.

A northeast sector rapid-transit line spanning Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge and other municipalities was also approved after it was defeated, along with RAV, on June 18.

The province is slated to put an additional $170 million into that project.

‘‘This is a good project, the region needs it, that’s why it went ahead today,’’ said Doug McCallum, the mayor of Surrey and the chairman of the TransLink board.

But B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair, also citing undue influence from Victoria, said taxpayers will ultimately pay for a bad decision.

Sinclair said public transportation is absolutely necessary, but the only people guaranteed not to lose money on RAV is the private company that develops the line.

Sinclair criticized the TransLink board for rejecting a proposal from RAVCO, the group that manages RAV, for a single entity to operate and maintain all of the rapid-transit lines across the Lower Mainland.

‘‘What every business in this country has done for the last 10 years is to find ways to amalgamate businesses and find ways of having one purchasing officer, one vice-president in charge of resources, one president, one maintenance yard – and we’re doing the exact opposite here because of Victoria,’’ said Sinclair.

‘‘They’re telling us that we can’t even talk to each other about this. That’s where the real crime is here. It starts in Victoria, when they put the preconditions (of a public-private-partnership) on this line. This line would not have been as controversial if they hadn’t put that on there – and that’s just extreme ideology getting in the way of good business.’’ Mary Mahon Jones, chief executive officer of the Council of Tourism Associations of British Columbia, said RAV is essential to reducing traffic jams and allowing goods to move quicker along less-congested roads.

Air travellers need at least an hour to get downtown from the airport in suburban Richmond, she said. RAV’s opponents contended that anticipated ridership figures have been inflated.

But Mahon Jones said studies show that ridership levels will be maintained.

‘‘We know, in tourism, that we’re going to grow,’’ said Mahon Jones. ‘‘We know that, as the numbers grow, our ability to move those people is going to become a bigger challenge.

“We need to plan for the future and the RAV line is definitely going to help us plan for the future. So we need to spend the money now, because it’s going to cost us a whole lot more later if we wait.’’ Mahon Jones said the Olympics and the 25,000 jobs it will create, plus the thousands of jobs anticipated just for the RAV line, will help ensure high ridership levels.

‘‘We’ve been looking at 22 million international visitors every year now,’’ said Mahon Jones. ‘‘It’s going to climb . . . We’re certain of that growth at this point in time.’’

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)