Party bus passengers in B.C.'s Lower Mainland could be fined $200 each for breaking COVID-19 rules

Party bus operators will now be fined $2,000 if they break the provincial health officer's order to shut down in the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth announced Friday.

Anyone caught participating in a social gathering on a limo or party bus in those areas could face individual fines of $200 from police and other enforcement officers, Farnworth said in a press release.

The new ticketing measures come after Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced strict new restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health, which have been at the centre ofB.C.'s second wave of the pandemic.

Shuttles and small buses are still permitted to take people to and from work, meetings or medical appointments, but "perimeter-seating" vehicles like party buses and limousines are forbidden from taking people to and from social events.

People who live in the two affected health regions have also been ordered not to engage in social interactions outside their immediate households, and indoor group fitness activities have been shut down temporarily until new COVID-19 safety plans are in place.