Metro Vancouver mayors call for B.C. leaders to prioritize transit

The Metro Vancouver Mayors’ Council released its provincial election voters’ guide Friday, outlining each party’s stance on the public transit system.

The guide comes after the council sent a letter to the main political parties in August, calling for the next government to reshape the current transit funding model and to support TransLink’s Access for Everyone plan.

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West says he is happy with the response from each political party regarding the importance of transit in this provincial election. However, he says the current public transit system needs change, and the glaring issue that needs to be solved after the election is the TransLink funding model.

“The status quo, as it stands, is not great,” said West.

“It’s pretty sad that what we’re talking about is trying to stop making it even worse. Where we need to get to is how to make it better.”

Back in late July, TransLink released a report highlighting a $600 million funding gap each year, detailing potential service cuts by the end of 2025 if a new funding model isn’t implemented.

The BC NDP said they would commit to delivering the $3.4 billion Access for Everyone Plan but didn’t commit to creating a new funding model. Meanwhile, the BC Greens have said they will commit over $1 billion to transit maintenance and service expansion. And the BC Conservatives said they would reform the current transit funding model and support expansion, but wouldn’t create a new fund.

Denis Agar, the executive director of Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, hopes to see the next provincial government invest in transit funding.

“At the end of the day, if we don’t fund transit the way it needs to be funded, we’re going to be spending way more on other issues,” Agar said.

“Investing in transit is the cheapest thing that we could do, and if we don’t, we’re going to have to invest in food banks and extra-wide highways cutting through our neighborhoods. That’s the kind of thing that we’d need to do instead.”

West adds that while transit is a provincial issue, it’s going to take all three levels of government to make significant change.