TransLink is facing a $600-million structural deficit that means Lower Mainland bus service could be cut after 8 p.m. and SkyTrain service could be rolled back by 30 per cent.
Metro Vancouver mayors gathered at the annual general meeting of the Union of B.C. Municipalites in Vancouver said the region’s transit system is in trouble and needs funding commitments from the province before cuts begin to impact communities and the economy.
“Metro Vancouver’s transit system is under threat due to a lack of funding,” said Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West Sept. 17 as the region’s mayors and other transit advocates stood behind him. West, chair of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, said TransLink faces a structural deficit of $600 million.
“We are facing drastic cuts,” he said. “It would be disastrous to our economy. It would be disastrous to our region.
” He said the challenge to parties vying to form government in the Oct. 19 provincial general election is not a bluff or a ploy. West said he wants to hear from NDP Premier David Eby and Conservative Party of B.
C. Leader John Rustad on what they intend to do to save the system. West stressed a recent survey showed 70 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents believe transit is an important issue for the upcoming election.
But, he said, without new funding, bus service could be cut after 8 p.m., specifically in areas such as Langley, the North Shore, Maple Ridge and Delta.
And, he said, SkyTrain service could b.