As gas prices go up, B.C. transit fares will not come down

British Columbians hoping for relief in the form of free public transit won’t be getting it anytime soon.

The B.C. government has confirmed it has no plans to implement the Green Party’s proposal of four free months of transit, despite gas prices continuing to reach record heights.

Tina Lovgreen with TransLink says if they were to offer free transit, it would require extensive subsidies from senior levels of government. Not collecting fares for four months would amount to a revenue loss of $160 million, she says.

“We’ve budgeted for earning almost half a billion dollars from fares this year alone, so that’s about one third of the money that goes to pay for transit services like buses, SkyTrains and other services that people have come to rely on.”

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Lovgreen also notes ridership hasn’t noticeably increased since the recent rise in gas prices. She believes transit being made cheaper isn’t a big enough incentive for people to stop travelling by car.

“People aren’t necessarily choosing to get out of their cars and take transit due to the cost of the fares,” she told CityNews. “The reasons people choose transit is because it is convenient, reliable, and frequent. It’s about how connected the routes are to where they need to go.”

Lovgreen also worries even a small surge in demand created by discounted travel could lead to capacity challenges. With COVID still a concern in B.C. and the temperature rising in the coming months, commuters could be uncomfortable on over-crowded SkyTrains and buses.

“It actually could make commutes worse.”

While Environment Minister George Heyman says the government does not plan to bring in the proposal, he highlights the NDP government’s move last year to make transit free for kids 12 and under.