First look at proposed fare increases to pay for transit improvements

Back in March, the federal, provincial, and local governments came to an agreement on how to fund two-thirds of the three-phase, 10-Year Transportation Plan. The plan will among other things see B-Line bus service introduced in all parts of the region including down Fraser Highway, light rail in Surrey, and a SkyTrain extension along Broadway. This will be a generational investment in public transit, local roads, and active transportation. For more details, please read an earlier post. One of the ways that this investment will be funded is with an increase in transit fares.

Starting in May, TransLink will be holding a series of public consultations on the transportation plan. One of the items covered during the consultation will be the fare increase. The following table shows the proposed pricing structure for all fare products over the next decade.

Proposed fares increases over the next decade by type. Select table to enlarge.

As the preceding table is a bit dense, the following table shows the change in price only for adult Compass Card fares and monthly passes.

	2018	2027	Change
Store Value
1-Zone	$2.30	$3.20	$0.90
2-Zone	$3.35	$4.50	$1.15
3-Zone	$4.40	$5.85	$1.45
Monthly Pass
1-Zone	$95.00	$121.00	$26.00
2-Zone	$128.00	$165.00	$37.00
3-Zone	$174.00	$225.00	$51.00

As a regular transit user who has a three-zone adult pass, the proposed modest increase in fares is reasonable, considering the amount of new transit service that will be introduced throughout the region.

TransLink is currently doing a review of the three-zone fare structure. It will be interesting to see how these proposed fare increases will look if the agency decides to move towards a distance-based structure for SkyTrain and SeaBus fares.