A transit riders advocacy group says all three parties have made some exciting promises ahead of the B.C. provincial election, but they still don’t feel anyone is going far enough.
Denis Agar, executive director of Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, says overcrowding is an issue that affects transit riders in places beyond the reach of TransLink, like Kelowna, Chilliwack, and Castlegar.
“We saw that a bit in the green platform, but no commitments for overcrowding relief in the conservative or the NDP platform, and that’s what we really want to see,” said Agar, referring to the BC Green Party promises to make transit free for riders, fund TransLink, and require spending on public transit to equal spending on highway infrastructure.
He says while the BC Conservatives’ platform acknowledges riders who’ve been left behind by a full bus, it doesn’t present immediate options to fix the problem.
“They really used language that was like it was empathetic to the riders that are using the system now. And what we really need is for all of the parties to back that up with funding commitments to run more service,” said Agar.
Meanwhile, the BC NDP have recommitted to extending the SkyTrain out to UBC, but the party hasn’t said how it’s going to fund that endeavour or how it plans to help TransLink overcome major financial pressures that it says might result in massive service cuts within the next two years.
“What we haven’t seen is a clear commitment to help TransLink with their budget hole. They have a $600 million a year budget hole. We’re risking cutting bus service in half in 2026 if there’s no funding,” Agar explained.
Speaking in Surrey Thursday, BC Conservatives Leader John Rustad promised to “fund TransLink through the next few years,” but was inspecfic about any kind of framework for how it would be funded, only saying it would not come from new tolls.
“We will do an audit of what TransLink is actually doing. We’ll make sure we put a model in place that’s actually sustainable going forward,” said Rustad.
The Mayor’s Council says it’s pleased to see all three parties make pledges to improve transit but wants specifics on how they plan to fix TransLink’s “broken funding model.”
Agar says he wasn’t surprised to see transit mentioned in all three platforms — or early promises — because B.C. has some of the highest transit usage on the continent.
“So I think the parties know they have to appeal to us. I just want to see them go a little bit further by all three of them acknowledging the troubles that transit riders currently are having and really committing money to doing something about it.”
The B.C. general election will take place on Oct. 19.