A motion introduced by Councillor Sean Orr called on city staff and TransLink to explore a pass costing just $25 a month for residents earning less than $40,000 annually.
“We live in one of the most expensive cities in the world and you know, it wasn’t long ago where I was also struggling to afford transit for groceries and things like that. So, it really hits home for me,” said Orr.
Council agreed to support the idea, and will be asking the province to outline what funding is available to create a low-income transit pass.
Currently, the BC Bus Pass offers discounted transit to low-income seniors and people with disabilities, but advocates argue the program leaves out many working age adults and families living on low incomes.
“No one should be turned away from public transit because they can’t afford it but Vancouver is one of the only places where that happens,” said Dennis Agar, executive director of Movement Vancouver.
Agar says despite operating one of Canada’s largest transit systems, Vancouver has fallen behind when it comes to affordability.
“The poverty rate for working age adult in Metro Vancouver is 16 per cent and that’s the on par with Toronto and it’s the highest of all major cities in Canada,” said Iglika Ivanova, senior economist for B.C. Policy Solutions.
Discounted transit programs are already available in other cities, including Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Halifax, and Kamloops. As for what this would cost, previous estimates from TransLink ranged between 60 and $70 million annually.
“This should be very feasible. And TransLink has already studied this, You know, so this isn’t, this isn’t going to come at them. You know, they’re not going to. We’re not going to be blindsiding them with this. And, you know, this is part of Vancouver’s role as an advocate to bring this forward to the province and say, look, this is really important,” said Orr.