B.C. Greens pledge to make public transit free if elected

B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau announced an election policy to make all public transit in the province free.

She said Thursday that free transit will relieve financial strain on families, create more livable communities and reduce carbon emissions.

"I think transit is a gift," she said in an interview. "It's a gift of time. It's a gift of freedom. It's a gift of mobility."

The Greens' proposal also calls for hourly services on key regional routes, a doubling of city buses within four years and a tripling within eight years.

One researcher isn't convinced the policy will be an effective way to have more people use public transit.

Nate Wallace, clean transportation manager with Environmental Defence, said while the policy would make transit more accessible, it might not boost ridership or address serious gaps in funding for TransLink, Metro Vancouver's transit provider. 

"I think their hearts are in the right place, for sure, to be promising this," Wallace said. "But I'm just a bit worried about how it's not really fully grasping the scope of both the operating deficit and service expansion needs."

The party, which currently has two MLAs in the 87-seat legislature, says $720 million in funding for TransLink and B.C. Transit would come from "reprioritizing existing funding," with $420 million from the provincial budget and savings from improved efficiency. 

The Greens said in a statement that doubling the number of buses and increasing frequency and routes would double operational expenditure of B.C. Transit from 2024/25 onward, initially requiring an extra $300 million per year.

Furstenau said in a statement that free transit was a "win-win," saving families money while easing traffic congestion.

Addressing funding gaps

In an email to CBC News, TransLink spokesperson Dan Mountain said it always appreciates policy ideas that intend to promote transit use. 

TransLink is facing a funding gap of $600 million each year starting in 2026, Mountain said, and fares are their largest source of revenue. 

It expects to earn $685 million in fare revenues next year.

"If transit were made free, those lost revenues would have to be paid for somehow," Mountain said.

"TransLink needs a new sustainable funding model to close that gap and avoid potential service cuts."

Wallace said the proposed policy did not seem to address the deficit. 

Some cities across the world, like Olympia, Wash. and Tallinn, Estonia, have implemented fare-free policies. But according to Wallace, the policy doesn't scale well to larger — and more populous — areas with larger fare revenues and expenses. 

"There aren't really any examples worldwide of a transit agency the size of Vancouver implementing [this policy]," Wallace said. "It would cost a whole lot of money that probably would be better spent on service improvements if the goal is to grow ridership."

Instead, Wallace said investments like building bus lanes and making service more frequent will encourage people to take public transit by making it more convenient. 

B.C. Transit did not respond to a request for comment. 

In an email to CBC News, B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said making transit affordable and expanding service is a priority.

He added the current government made transit free for children under the age of 12, and is expanding SkyTrain service and rapid bus routes. 

"We need to keep taking action to strengthen both our transit system and our highway infrastructure, to help people with cost, tackle climate change, and so that people can keep getting to where they need to go," Fleming said.