New West Mayor Patrick Johnstone is part of a delegation from the Mayors’ Council that’s heading to Ottawa to lobby for federal transit funding.
A delegation of Metro Vancouver mayors are travelling to Ottawa next week to urge the federal government to expedite funding for public transit.
“The transit system is back. We’re back to over 85 per cent ridership, but it is full,” Johnstone said. “When you talk about 100 per cent ridership, we’re talking about the massively overcrowded conditions we had in 2019.”
Johnstone will be among the mayors who will be having conversations with federal officials about the government’s commitment to long-term transit funding.
“I’m on that train almost every day, and the system is full again,” he told the Record. “So we’re really trying to figure out how we’re going to finance the next phase of growth for the region. With a million people moving to the region, we can’t have the transit system we have now. We have to grow it, and there’s no funding found right now. That’s one of the big things we have to do as a region.”
According to the Mayors Council on Regional Transportation, as of March 2023, the Metro Vancouver transit system was the first metro area in North America to reach 84 per cent ridership recovery compared to pre-pandemic levels. It states that ridership is well above 100 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in many areas of the region and overcrowding is approaching 2019 levels, when the system was severely congested.
The TransLink Mayors’ Council is meeting with federal officials from May 15 to 17 to share information about Access for Everyone, the new 10-year plan for expanding public transit across Metro Vancouver to reduce congestion and keep the region moving. The $21-billion plan – also known as Transport 2050: Ten-Year Priorities – will take a “bus-first” approach, doubling local bus service, building approximately 170 kilometres of rapid transit, and improving infrastructure for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
A press release from the Mayors’ Council states that next week’s trip to Ottawa marks the beginning of its campaign to raise awareness about the urgent need for investment in transit and transportation, and how the Access for Everyone plan will bring transit closer to more affordable parts of the region and lower greenhouse gas emissions by reducing traffic congestion.
In addition to lobbying senior governments, the campaign – launching May 15 – will include a website, community engagement and other initiatives aimed at familiarizing the region’s residents with the plan.
“We want the voices of our residents to be heard in Ottawa and Victoria. Metro Vancouver’s population is growing fast, and essential services like public transit are not keeping up,” Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, chair of the TransLink Mayors’ Council, said in a news release. “Just like other core utilities that keep our region going – electricity, water, roads – public transit is key to our quality of life in Metro Vancouver, and we urgently need to expand transit services as we add more people to the region.”
According to the Mayors’ Council, federal immigration targets nearly doubled between 2016 and 2022, leading to record-breaking population growth expected over the next several years. With Metro Vancouver’s population expected to grow by 50,000 people per year – equivalent to adding a City of North Vancouver to the region every year – the Mayors’ Council is calling on senior levels of government to act now to ready the transportation system for the future.
“It’s important that residents across the region have access to reliable and efficient transportation options,” Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said in the news release. “Access for Everyone will improve transportation links in every corner of the region, helping people get where they need to go. In the spirit of collaboration, we ask the federal government to renew their partnership with our region and province to ensure this plan can be fully funded.”
The Mayors’ Council is asking for the federal Permanent Transit Fund (announced in 2021) to be started earlier than planned, in 2024, to enable TransLink and other transit agencies in Canada to begin delivering better transit service without delay.
The Mayors’ Council also wants to see the Government of Canada launch a tri-partite national commission together with provinces, transit agencies and local governments to develop a new funding model for public transit that is more resilient and equitable by avoiding overreliance on regressive funding sources such as transit fares and property taxes, and will enable Canada’s big cities to plan and build the new transit current and future residents need to succeed.
