A New Westminster school trustee wants the school board to lend its voice to a call for emergency relief funding for transit.
Dee Beattie has a motion coming to her colleagues at the May 12 operations policy and planning committee calling for the board to advocate on behalf of TransLink.
Beattie pointed out that the education system relies on transit.
“As our city and school district move into a recovery post-pandemic in the upcoming months, it is essential our students and families in New Westminster have the transit services to get to work, school, appointments and shopping for food,” her motion says. “TransLink is an essential service and heavily relied on by our students commuting to the middle schools and high school.”
Beattie also pointed out that loss of transit would mean extra barriers for vulnerable students and families who rely on buses and SkyTrain for their daily lives.
Her motion notes that, on April 4, TransLink announced it was reducing transit service because of low ridership and financial pressures. On April 14, TransLink announced it was seeking emergency relief funding from the provincial and federal governments to offset the losses occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, TransLink reported it was losing $75 million per month.
Kevin Desmond, TransLink’s CEO, called it a “dire situation” for the transit authority, and New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote said that without financial help, the system would end up becoming “unrecognizable.”
Since then, TransLink has announced it will back off on transit service reductions and layoffs after the B.C. government announced a plan to restart some areas of the economy and society. A TransLink statement said TransLink and the province will continue to call on the federal government for “a national solution to the challenges facing transit systems.”
Beattie’s motion asks the committee to recommend to the school board that School District No. 40 write a letter to the provincial and federal governments “to advocate that TransLink receive emergency funding to ensure necessary transit services will be there for essential workers, the community and students when they need it.”
It’s on the agenda for the operations committee meeting Tuesday night, which will be live online via Webex. Find the link here.
