“Good grief”: BC Greens make lofty transit election promise

As we approach the provincial election, the BC Greens are making their first big splash in an attempt to sway voters, this time with a lofty transit promise.

If elected, Sonia Furstenau, the leader of the BC Green Party, announced that the party plans to make transit free for all province-wide.

Fast, frequent and free transit will shift how people move, reduce household costs, and enable a giant leap forward on meeting our climate goals,” the BC Green Party said in a statement.

BC residents aren’t resonating with the promise the way the BC Greens may have hoped.

So far, Furstenau and the BC Green Party have only shared some preliminary details about this proposed free transit plan, with more details expected later this fall. The party says the net cost would be $720 million per year.

Other details include the proposal for more buses. The BC Green Party wants to double the number of buses within four years and triple it within eight.

Not only will free transit save families thousands of dollars each year, it will also ease the growing congestion on our roads and improve safety and connectivity between communities,” the BC Green Party added.

“How will this help?”

In response to the announcement, residents are perplexed, asking how making transit free will address gaps in service that could, in some cases, be addressed with more funding.

TransLink even suggested that people unofficially riding transit for free are causing large financial losses.

An X user said that transit is not great outside the Lower Mainland, adding, “How will this help there?”

Some fear a move like this would lead to massive taxation.

One X user simply said, “Good grief,” in response to the announcement.

We’ve asked TransLink how free transit would impact its operations and will update this when we get a response.

In the meantime, how do you feel about this transit election promise from the BC Greens?

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