TransLink announces 4% fare increase for 2025

The TransLink board of directors has approved an mean fare summation of 4 per cent, which volition instrumentality effect connected July 1, 2025.

It's the highest summation since the commencement of the pandemic, with single-zone fares increasing 15 cents from $3.20 to $3.35. Two-zone fares volition summation by 20 cents to $4.85, and three-zone fares volition emergence by 25 cents to $6.60.

Fare increases were cancelled successful 2020 arsenic the pandemic deed and held astatine an mean summation of 2.3 per cent per twelvemonth from 2021 to 2024. The increases were kept beneath ostentation and managed done the federal Safe Restart Agreement, designed to assistance provinces and territories retrieve from the effects of the pandemic.

According to the TransLink board, the statement expired connected Dec. 31, 2024.

Looming shortfall

Last summer, TransLink said successful a statement that existent alleviation backing from the authorities would beryllium coming to an extremity successful 2025 and that without a caller solution to code the backing gap, imaginable cuts would request to beryllium made.

The connection talked about cutting autobus work successful half, cancelling each NightBus and West Coast Express services, and importantly reducing HandyDART, SkyTrain and SeaBus services.

WATCH | TransLink CEO explains backing challenges: 

Even with a caller crackdown connected fares — TransLink reports that 2.2 cardinal riders were checked past twelvemonth — 2024 revenues of $63 cardinal were down by astir $2 cardinal from 2023.

TransLink says it expects to beryllium abbreviated by astir $72 million this year, and starting adjacent year, it is predicting an yearly operational shortfall of $600 million.

Late past week, the national authorities announced much than $1.5 cardinal implicit 10 years for transit successful Metro Vancouver nether the caller Canada Public Transit Fund. Quinn said successful a connection that helium was looking forward to continuing TransLink's concern with Ottawa to grow transit and conscionable the region's needs.

Difficult for low-income riders, advocates say

"Paying much and getting little is honestly, I think, wherefore immoderate radical are protesting. "It's perfectly brainsick successful the Lower Mainland," said transit rider Faith Brown. "Why aren't our taxes paying for this?"

Brown besides expressed interest for radical connected fixed incomes and pensions and said  she recovered it truly frustrating that determination weren't different options to assistance cover the costs falling connected transit riders.

Denis Agar agrees that it volition beryllium hard for low-income riders.

"There's nary question that it's going to beryllium a hardship, particularly for radical that person to bash the three-zone fare," said Agar, who is the enforcement manager of Movement, a non-profit that fights for amended nationalist transit successful Metro Vancouver. "That means implicit $200 a period present for idiosyncratic commuting from Surrey to Vancouver."

He says that it's beneath what fares utilized to beryllium successful 2020 when ostentation is factored in, but added that it's not overmuch solace for people.

Agar besides said that the fare increase will lone supply TransLink with astir $20 cardinal successful gross erstwhile it needs $600 million. He says helium is pushing for low-income fare passes — which, helium says, person worked successful different cities, including Kamloops, Calgary, Edmonton and Regina.