A report is slated to come out Thursday to the mayors’ council, addressing the dire need for transit funding.
The report suggests that if transit funding is reduced, it could see a substantial reduction in all of its services. This includes bus, Skytrain and sea bus services.
Langley Mayor Nathan Pachal tells CityNews that not just Langley but the rest of Metro Vancouver losing transit funding is “very frightening” and the region needs “generational investment.”
“Transit is way over 2019 levels. We’ve seen from the fastest growth in Metro Vancouver, clearly, people need transit service,” he said. “When you look at the cost of living, people need affordable options and transit there.”
Pachal says over the years people have been moving onto using electric vehicles (EV) which takes away from TransLink’s revenue that comes from gas taxes.
“That’s been declining year over year, at the same time people’s travel patterns have changed and the cost of delivering transit has increased,” he said.
Pachal says mayors are willing to do what needs to be done to make sure support is provided.
“We’re going to need a partnership with the federal government and provincial government to come together and make sure that we have transit for the decades to come,” he said.
The mayor says Langley has been on “life support” for the last two years.
“There’s no point in having busses in Vancouver if there’s no way to get to Vancouver,” Pachal said. “Likewise, if there’s just community shuttles in Langley city, that’s great for Langley city, but we know that 45 per cent of people leave our region, so it’s really a regional solution we’re striving for.”
Pachal says if transit services are reduced, it could be “devastating” to all of Metro-Vancouver.
“That would increase congestion, limit opportunity for people to get jobs, will drive up the cost of living,” Pachal said. “We’re building two new Skytrain stations…We need people and funding to make those extensions operate.”
The mayor says without sufficient funding there could be two scenarios of cuts that could be made.
One scenario, he says, is “maximizing ridership” while making cuts. That would mean cutting bus service by 45 per cent, cutting sea bus by 15 per cent, Expo Line by 10 per cent, and then reducing West Coast Express from five to three roundtrips.
Another scenario is “maximizing coverage” while making cuts. This would cut bus service by 50 per cent, sea bus by 30 per cent, Millennium line service by 30 per cent and the West Coast Express completely.
Pachal added that HandyDART service would also be impacted with a 35 per cent decrease — this would mean prioritizing medical trips only.
The report will be presented on Thursday and a public meeting will be held at 9:50 a.m.
-With files from Angelyna Mintz and Raynaldo Suarez.