While Langley City is one of the most affordable places to live by Metro Vancouver standards, I know that the cost of housing, transportation, and food is a challenge for many people. A Metro Vancouver report noted that for most people, transportation expenses are about the same as housing expenses. Many households have two or more vehicles. Investing in high-quality, fast, and frequent transit supports lowering transportation costs as people can then have the option of reducing the number of vehicles they own and operate.
Transit is also linked to better social well-being and health outcomes, providing access to essential services and reducing social inequities.
TransLink has a reduced-fare program that applies to seniors and younger people. The provincial government has the BC Bus Pass Program, a low-cost transit pass limited to low-income seniors and people receiving disability assistance from the Province of British Columbia.
Metro Vancouver is one of the few major regions in Canada without a low-income transit pass for all ages and abilities—Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Calgary each offer reduced-fare transit passes.
Many people who would qualify for BC Housing-funded or below-market rental housing would not qualify for the BC Bus Pass Program. Expanding this program would allow more people in Metro Vancouver access to opportunity, boost the regional economy, improve equity, and reduce fare evasion and its associated enforcement costs.
I’m happy to say that Langley City Council unanimously passed the following motion at its meeting last night.
THAT Council direct the Mayor to write a letter to the Provincial Minister of Transportation and Transit, requesting that the Province of British Columbia expand the eligibility requirements for the BC Bus Pass Program to include low-income households in Metro Vancouver.
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