Mayors representing Metro Vancouver’s 21 municipalities, one electoral area and the Tsawwassen First Nation want voters to send letters to provincial political leaders to drive TransLink funding as a major election issue.
Mayors’ Council chair Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West was joined by his peers and several community and business leaders on Tuesday from the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference to call on the province’s political leaders to provide a detailed plan to fund TransLink.
The transportation authority, with a $2.37 billion budget this year, faces a pending structural deficit of $600 million per year starting in 2026 if support from the provincial and federal levels of government isn’t maintained and increased.
On Tuesday, West chronicled the cuts that would have to be made if an appropriate funding model wasn’t found.
They include potentially shutting down all bus service after 8 p.m., cutting most bus service in communities such as Langley, the North Shore, Maple Ridge and Delta, as well as reducing SkyTrain service by 30 per cent.
“It would be disastrous for our economy. It would be disastrous for your region, and it would be disastrous for our people,” he said.
“This is not a bluff. This is not a ploy. This is not a bunch of BS designed to force the province to do something. This is reality.”
The mayors want all political parties looking to form the next government in B.C. to provide a detailed plan for a new, sustainable funding model for TransLink.
To try to force the issue as a focus of the campaign set to begin on Saturday, the Mayors’ Council has launched a campaign called Access for Everyone that would allow voters to send a form letter to all the leaders.
It argues that transit is an essential service that makes life more affordable, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and prevents road congestion.
TransLink has a plan to double bus services region-wide, increase SkyTrain and SeaBus services, introduce nine new bus rapid transit (BRT) routes, expand SkyTrain to UBC, build the gondola to SFU on Burnaby Mountain, and improve major road networks.
Metro Vancouver mayors say a permanent $3.4 billion-per-year transit fund, indexed to population growth and inflation, is required.
Currently, TransLink’s revenues come from fares, property tax, gas tax, parking tax, and other sources such as senior levels of government.
‘Can’t afford to cut now,’ says Eby
At an unrelated news conference on Tuesday, Premier David Eby said his government is committed to providing funding for transportation in the province. He said the B.C. NDP’s platform would detail specific commitments to fund transit.
He also highlighted that his government gave TransLink $1 billion in funding during the pandemic.
“We’re a transit government,” said Eby. “We can’t afford to cut now. People are going to sit in traffic, wondering, or they’re going to sit on a street corner waiting for a bus that’s not going to come if we cut transit funding right now.”
The B.C. Conservative Party did not immediately respond to inquiries from CBC News. It has not yet posted to its website its plans for transportation should the party form government.
As for the B.C. Green Party, its past platforms on transit included a consideration of mobility pricing to help offset the costs of transit services authorities like TransLink provide.