TransLink warns funding shortfall may lead to deep service cuts - Action News
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British Columbia

TransLink warns funding shortfall may lead to deep service cuts

The public transit provider says it is facing a gap of $600 million each year and will have to significantly reduce services if more funding isn't secured by the end of 2025.

Cuts could come to buses, SkyTrain, SeaBus, HandyDART and West Coast Express in 2025

A number of people wait for a train at a public transit station.
Transit riders wait to board SkyTrain in this file photo. TransLink is warning that services may be cut by as much as 50 per cent if the transit authority does not obtain more funding. (Justine Boulin/CBC)

A TransLink report presented to the Mayors'Council on Thursday says the transitauthority may have to cut 50 per cent of its services at the end of 2025 if additional funding is not secured.

A statement from the public transit provider says it is facing a gap of $600 million each year.

"The results of that report were nothing short of shocking," said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn on Thursday.

A scenario outlined by TransLink shows this could mean cutting bus services in half, including cancelling most night buses.

There would be a 30 per cent reduction inSkyTrainand SeaBus services, as well as reduced HandyDART services.

And it could mean eliminating the West Coast Express altogether.

"Impacts won't just be felt by transit riders, it would be felt by the entire region," Quinn said."We anticipate that congestion on our roads would increase by as much as 20 per cent."

A white man with white hair looks up at a news conference.
Translink CEO Kevin Quinn warns potential transit cuts would not only affect transit riders, but drivers, too. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

The NDP government has been providing temporary relief funding for TransLink since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding ends in 2025.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming is urging the federal government to provide further funding.

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who sits on the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation, said in an interview with CBC's On The Coast that sustainable funding for TransLink has always been "elusive." He added that it's especially important to get sustainable funding for itnow because of the province's current focus on transit-oriented densification.

Brodie said he would beconcerned if TransLink hadto make cuts, but he's also "absolutely confident" that seniorgovernmentswillprovide support for the transit authority in time.

"There's ample time for the province and the fed to make the commitments that are required and to allow the program to go forward," he said.

For riders, the stakes arehigh.

"I rely on transit. I take bus, SkyTrain and I bus again, so transit is very important for me," said Katrina Dowall, a UBC student who commutes to campus.

With files from Katie Derosa, Pinki Wong and On The Coast