Metro Vancouver’s TransLink plans fare and tax hikes for better service

TransLink is proposing a plan to improve its services, ease overcrowding, and finish projects, but it will involve a fare hike and a tax increase for Metro Vancouver residents.

The B.C. government announced Thursday that it would provide $312 million in operating funding to the Metro Vancouver transit operator over the next three years if the rest of its investment plan is approved.

The plan would allow for several improvements, including more service on up to 50 bus routes, extending the North Shore’s rapid bus, and adding West Coast Express train cars.

But it would also mean a five per cent fare increase in July 2026, followed by annual two per cent increases, and there would be another $1.50 added to the current fee to go the airport, along with a 0.5 cent property tax increase, equal to about $20 for a median household.

Denis Agar, executive director of Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, says Thursday’s funding announcement is a huge sigh of relief for commuters.

“We generated over 3,000 emails to mayors and 3,000 emails to MLAs,” Agar said.

“So we think they heard loud and clear that riders want to prevent cuts and they actually want more service. And it looks like that’s what we got.”

He says he hopes TransLink will use this momentum to come up with a permanent solution to their financial issues.

“This is a three-year plan, that’s when the funding expires, and it doesn’t address some really serious problems that are still left in the system,” he said.

“So we’re challenging the mayors in the province to come up with a new plan in just one year.”

Agar notes the plan doesn’t fund the long-awaited SkyTrain extension to UBC or the gondola up to SFU.

A public consultation process is being held on the plan with comments accepted until April 24. A vote by both the Mayors’ Council and the TransLink Board is expected on April 30.

TransLink provides 5.5 million service hours every year, operating commuter trains and the SeaBus, as well as trolley and regular buses, but has said it faced a shortfall of $600 million per year.

Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth says they know that TransLink is facing a significant deficit as costs and demand for services increase, and the provincial funding will allow for both stable service and for expansion.

The B.C. money is in addition to $1.5 billion over 10 years that the federal government announced for the network in March.

— With files from Srushti Gangdev