New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote is set to make a direct plea to the federal government on Friday for more funding for TransLink.
Cote is the head of the Mayor’s Council on transit and will speak as a witness to the House of Commons Finance Committee via teleconferencing.
TransLink made large-scale cuts to services earlier in the week, laying off staff and cutting back routes across the system.
Many New West residents are rallying support for more funding for transit by promoting the site savetransit.ca that’s been set up to put pressure on the feds to “fund (transit) like an essential service.”
“Please go to savetransit.ca to send a letter to your MP and MLA to provide emergency funding for transit,” tweeted @IjustKat who lives in New West. “My partner, who is an essential health-care worker, just told me the bus they take part of the way to work is cancelled starting Friday. Transit is essential.”
The Save Transit Coalition includes transit riders, transit workers, health care and front-line workers, students, environmental organizations, social service organizations, housing providers, and gendered service providers. They are calling on the federal government to provide emergency funding for public transit so that all community members can depend on the essential public service.
Please go to https://t.co/R8uKzZUwMF to send a letter to your MP and MLA to provide emergency funding for transit. My partner, who is an essential health care worker, just told me the bus they take part of the way to work is cancelled starting Friday. Transit is essential.
— Kat (@Ijustkat) April 22, 2020
New West resident @Trudiagogo has also been vocal on the issue.
“We need emergency funding now to protect transit,” read a recent tweeted promoting the savetransit.ca site.
Ridership is down 83% across the transit service, and TransLink says they are losing an estimated $75 million per month as the COVID-19 crisis continues.
“Transit cuts discriminate against women and in particular refugee and racialized women and single mothers, who may not drive, may not have local driving licenses and or who may prioritize their children over cars. In a survey last week, Atira staff identified their fear of losing access to transit as their number one worry, even over contracting COVID-19. It must be a priority for all levels of government to keep transit active and keep essential services workers at work, which is where they want to be,” said. Janice Abbott, Chief Executive Officer for Atira Group of Women Serving Agencies.
TransLink outline the cuts as follows:
- Implement further suspension of transit services on Bus, SkyTrain, SeaBus, and West Coast Express, beginning this week.
- Issue temporary layoff notices to 1,492 employees. These employees work in various positions at TransLink, Coast Mountain Bus Company, and British Columbia Rapid Transit Company.
- Reduce senior executive salaries and Board remuneration by 10%.
- Reduce organizational costs and program expenditures, including:
- Deferral of the 2020 Major Road Network operations, maintenance and rehabilitation program funding to municipalities.
- Deferral of 2020 service expansions.
- Spend cash reserves to sustain current essential service operations through to the end of 2020.
