Movement YVR is calling for a low-income bus pass to be issued by TransLink.
On July 1, TransLink is raising fare prices by an average of 5 per cent across the board.
This translates to about 10 to 25 cents more per single-fair trip.
Monthly passes also went up.
On Wednesday from noon to 1:30 p.m., Movement is gathering at Metrotown Station to spread the word about needing a low-income bus pass for all of B.C.
According to Movement, this new fare hike in July will add another $120 per family member to household expenses each year.
“When we started, no one was really talking about this. And now we’re at the point where we’ve got over 50 groups in our coalition calling for this,” said Denis Agar with Movement Metro Vancouver Transit Riders.
Various cities and municipalities are signing on to boost the call for a low-income bus pass that will be beneficial to youth and working‑age adults.
“We’ve got Vancouver council, City of Langley council and more coming that have already signed saying they’re supporting this. And thousands of people have used our website to write a letter to their MLA saying they want this.”
Movement points to other jurisdictions that have already implemented low-income bus passes as a blueprint for TransLink and the province of B.C.
“Ultimately our message to them is that we’re one of the only major transit using regions on the continent that doesn’t have this already. So really part of it is a little bit of like a kind of shame and surprise that we’ve got this missing piece in our social safety net.”
Right now only adults on income assistance qualify for a reduced cost pass. Movement wants to see that go towards working low-income people as well.
“TransLink actually endorsed this. They have a report on their website saying that it would cost roughly $70 million [a year] in the way that they kind of designed it. They’re pretty much on board.”
“It’s going to take the province to unlock the funding for this.”
While Agar says that TransLink is on board with the idea, the province has to back it before it becomes a reality.
“If they can design a program, get it up and running, I think that would be a really bright spot for this provincial government. That’s something they could be proud of.”
A low-income bus pass would open doors to many people who right now have the cost barrier to their travel.
“What they’d be doing is unlocking mobility for, you know, tens of hundreds of thousands of Metro Vancouverites that currently can’t afford to go to university to better their career.”
“They can’t take transit to better jobs that might pay them more, to see family, to seek healthcare that they might not have been able to go to.”
— With files from Dean Recksiedler