Metro Vancouver mayors launch new campaign to secure transit funding

A group of Metro Vancouver mayors has launched a new campaign intended to rally public support for more provincial and federal funding for transit.

The campaign from the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation includes advertisements at transit stops and on social media, with a link for supporters to send a pre-written letter to MLAs, MPs and ministers urging greater investment in local projects.

"If we don’t act now, thousands of people will be left behind by full buses every day and new housing will be left unserved," the letter reads, in part.

In a statement, Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, who chairs the council, said the region's transit services are "essentially frozen at 2019 levels," even though the population has grown by nearly 200,000 people since that time. 

In November, the council issued a funding submission to the federal minister of finance to develop a new model for TransLink.

The council said then that the projects will cost $2.8 billion and the mayors are asking the federal and provincial governments to each cover 40 per cent of the price tag— while local communities pay the remaining 20 per cent.

The projects include three new rapid bus routes, costing upwards of $900 million.

Below is a list of the proposed projects:

• Park Royal (North Shore) to Metrotown (Burnaby) via Phibbs Exchange and Willingdon Avenue
• Langley to Maple Ridge along 200th Ave, the Golden Ears Bridge and Lougheed Highway
• Surrey to White Rock along King George Boulevard

The Mayors' Council has released a list of projects they say are needed in the region, including $375 million for the expansion of TransLink's bus fleet.

A fall report found that if additional funding wasn't committed, TransLink would face a funding gap of $4.7 billion between 2026 and 2033.

The shortfall could lead to 60 per cent of services being cut to balance the budget, according to the report.