UBCM calls for province to pay for free transit for teenagers

A bus in Metro Vancouver.

The Union of B.C. Municipalities is asking the provincial government to make transit free for teenagers.

Local leaders passed a resolution on the issue Thursday morning at the UBCM’s annual convention in Vancouver.

Buses, SkyTrain, SeaBus and the West Coast Express are currently free for kids 12 and under, but the UBCM would like to see youth through to Grade 12 covered as well.

“They will become adults that are paying regular fare, and we need to have better transit adoption to ensure that our transit systems are sustainable into the future,” said Colby Harder, a councillor for the City of Landford.

TransLink says making teens free would cost $30 million a year.

“Not everybody needs it to be free. I would be more supportive of something that … has some form of income test to it,” said Dennis Marsden, a Coquitlam councillor.

That was the recommendation of a report presented to the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation back in June.

“As highlighted in the report, 22% of youth live in households earning over $200,000 each year,” wrote TransLink in an email to CTV News.

The company is currently facing an annual funding gap of approximately $600 million starting in 2026.

“If any further discounts are enacted by government, they should be cost-neutral to TransLink to avoid making our impending funding gap larger,” wrote TransLink.

The resolution, put forward by Port Moody Mayor Meghan Lahti asks the province to provide permanent funding for the initiative.

“I recognize that transit has funding issues, but taking funding from our 14- and 16-year-olds is not the solution,” said Cynthia Day, a Colwood councillor.

CTV News reached out to the Ministry of Transportation for comment, but did not hear back by deadline.