The Case for Free Transit for B.C. Teens
It is not too late to turn this bus around.
By Chantelle Spicer (BC Poverty Reduction Coalition) & Emily Faubert (Centre for Family Equity)
Originally published in Vancouver Is Awesome on September 28, 2024
This month, thousands of kids made the leap from elementary to high school across the province with many learning how to navigate their local public transit system alone for the first time. As families struggled with the high cost of bus passes for these youth who no longer qualify for free transit with BC’s Get on Board program, TransLink and the Mayor’s Council issued a dire message. The provincial and federal governments must, they said, come to the rescue with a new funding model and $600 million to maintain basic services.
The fare box cannot be relied on to pay for a complex transit system that will move people where they need to go when they need to go there.
But shortly after announcing this crisis, TransLink rolled out a new initiative to crack down on fare evasion that simply reinforces the idea that collecting fares from often cash-strapped riders is a reasonable funding fix. And fares went up again recently. We are stuck in a bad cycle; fares go up, evasion goes up, funding for more transit police and more surveillance increases. What a nightmare.
Families face 'TransLink debt'
The crackdown has all but guaranteed that low-income high school students living well below B.C.’s poverty line will face fare infraction tickets, penalizing them for trying to get to school or work.
Families who cannot afford transit fares tell us about the impact of fare evasion tickets. "TransLink debt," as they call it, is an ever-mounting cost that low-income parents – many living on income and disability assistance and who are often Indigenous, newcomers or lone mothers – simply cannot pay.
Many former youth-in-care have come forward over the years to tell us about thousands of dollars in "TransLink debt" they’ve incurred which prevents them from getting a driver’s licence since fare infractions are linked to ICBC.
Over the past few years, the government has made modest progress in reducing family poverty through affordability initiatives like child care and improvements to family benefits. Unfortunately, increasing the basic cost of transit along with issuing fare evasion fines eat into those gains and come at a high cost to families struggling to put food on the table.
Transit infraction tickets must not disproportionately harm at-risk youth
Our organizations have collectively advocated for years for a fine forgiveness program that takes economic hardship into account in keeping with most major transit systems in North America, and for all transit systems in B.C. to cease ticketing minors completely, but there is no progress in sight. The B.C. government and our transit providers must ensure fare infraction tickets do not disproportionately harm those youth who are most at risk. Ticketing youth ignores their legal status as dependent minors who should not be treated as adults.
We have a vision that looks beyond reliance on the fare box toward a fully accessible and fully public transit system for BC. We see transit as an essential public service. This means we need a public transit system that is by the public, for the public. Our vision of a fully public transit system would not outsource to private for-profit companies. It would provide quality jobs across transit networks, including critical services such as HandyDART that supports those impacted by disabilities.
The movement for an accessible and free transit system for youth is led by youth themselves through the Transit for Teens Youth Leadership Coalition. Their coalition has grown in numbers with T4T Clubs now popping up in high schools throughout the province. The vision for supporting the next generation of public transit riders includes training in transit use and access in high schools, supported by the Ministry of Education and Child Care.
'It is not too late to turn this bus around' in B.C.
Transit systems throughout North America and beyond are shifting towards publicly funded models that recognize today’s youth as the next generation of riders and voters. We need look no further than Washington State, where an initiative called Move Ahead Washington allows youth under eighteen to ride free on public buses across the state and, as of May, on Amtrak trains as well.
In Canada, Halifax recently announced their Student Transit Pass Pilot Program has been expanded to include students up to grade twelve providing free access to both bus and ferry service. Kingston’s program has demonstrated the effectiveness of embedded transit training in high schools combined with free transit for all students.
But in B.C. we are going in the opposite direction with law-and-order responses that reinforce a fare box-dependent system and create an atmosphere of intimidation, surveillance, and punishment that discourages youth from using public transit. It is not too late to turn this bus around.
A new funding model must shift away from the fare box. It must not ignore the province’s families and youth. With Transit for Teens in place, the system of the future comes into focus. Accessible, free, and dignified transit is possible. It’s time to support BC’s most valuable resource – our youth.
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