TransLink board chair Dale Parker will step down from the role at the end of this year.

His three-year term is expiring and at age 75 says he's decided to rein in his commitments and stop serving on the nine-member board.

"To do another three-year term is more than I should take on at this stage," Parker said.

He was TransLink's first board chair after the province shook up the regional transportation authority in 2007, replacing elected mayors and councillors with professional appointees who brought expertise in finance, planning and transportation.

Critics predicted the new board would be mere pawns of the province, ramming through Victoria's policies over local objections.

Instead, Parker and the board forged a strong relationship with the Mayors Council on Regional Transportation.

Together, they resisted provincial government pressure on how far to go in raising more money for rapid transit expansion, instead adopting a more modest package of tax and fare hikes last year to stabilize TransLink funding.

It set the stage for continued negotiations still underway with Victoria, which mayors hope will ultimately deliver a larger pot of money to ensure more than just the Evergreen Line gets built.

"He came in at a very challenging time," said mayors council chair and Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender. "He was very professional and helped to build a strong foundation given the governance structure we have."

Parker said the Evergreen Line was "something we all wanted to have happen, but you have to get your house in order first."

He said TransLink is now on solid financial footing, erasing a $150-million deficit by last year's decision to raise an additional $130 million and internal cost cutting that has saved $30 million a year.

Parker said the board is stable and has gained much knowledge and appreciation for the transit system and the needs throughout the region.

He predicts one of the most important but less-understood decisions has been to proceed with a smart card payment system.

Too much public attention has been on the turnstiles that would come to SkyTrain, he said, rather than the cards themselves and the flow of data they will generate, providing much better information on how people use transit and how to better manage the system.

Two other TransLink directors have terms expiring this year – SFU economics professor Nancy Olewiler and corporate director and lawyer David Unruh – but both are seeking new three-year terms.

Either one, if renewed, might be well-positioned to take over as chair, a position paid $100,000 a year.

A screening panel is vetting a large number of applicants and will put forward five names, which could include Unruh and Olewiler, from which the mayors council will choose three directors for new terms.

The full board votes in a new chair at the end of the year.