Mayoral candidate Ken Armstrong is calling upon New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote (Chair) and the entire Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation (Mayors’ Council) to reconsider their support for a hike in transit fares on July 1st.
According to local media reports Transit systems that are freezing fares include those in Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, Durham and York regions, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Edmonton. In New Zealand they have announced a 50% cut in transit fees until this summer. In Ireland they have chosen to lower fares as a way of encouraging people to take transit and to keep things more affordable coming out of the pandemic.
“It’s disappointing to see Mayor Cote remain silent as TransLink plans for this fare hike at the most inopportune time,” says Armstrong. “While I appreciate TransLink’s need for revenue, everything should have been done to lobby the provincial government to secure the funds TransLink needed to avoid this hit to people’s pocketbooks this year.”
Mayor Cote should be strongly encouraging the Province to come up with a similar financial subsidy for transit riders and TransLink given they have already set aside the funds to do so
In December 2020, the federal and provincial government did acknowledge the unique circumstances the COVID pandemic placed TransLink and its passengers. They jointly announced a $1.038B investment to support BC’s transit system. Former BC Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Rob Fleming stated “this ensures these essential services are maintained across the province and that fares will remain affordable – providing certainty for people as we recover from these challenging times.”
“The Province of BC just announced yesterday that almost $400M in funding will be transferred from ICBC to policy holders to help maintain affordability in the midst of rising gas prices,” says Armstrong. “Mayor Cote should be strongly encouraging the Province to come up with a similar financial subsidy for transit riders and TransLink given they have already set aside the funds to do so.”
The NDP government recently announced it was setting aside $2 billion in 2022-23 and $1 billion in 2023-24 in contingency funds for pandemic recovery “to provide ongoing health responses and to help people, businesses and communities that are still recovering from the pandemic’s impacts.”
The NWP was formed in the fall of 2017 in an effort to provide independent candidates the opportunity to work in collaboration to help bring balance and develop a strong vision for the future of our city and school system. NWP is a diverse group of citizens who live, work and invest in our city and are committed to supporting a non-partisan approach to municipal politics. Committed to a core mission and set of values, NWP is a grassroots registered elector organization that is committed to ensuring the voice of average citizens and neighbourhoods is listened to at city hall and the school board.