TransLink sounds alarm that without emergency funding, service will see “unprecedented cuts"

Kevin Desmond, CEO of TransLink, which serves the Metro Vancouver area in British Columbia, says the agency has done the best it can to keep services running for essential workers, but with operating revenues reduced by half since mid-March, emergency relief funding is needed or drastic service cuts will be needed.  

“We’ve done the best we can to keep essential services operating for those workers who need it to get to their workplaces, but we are losing C$75 million (US$54.01 million) per month and on our current trajectory, we will face cash flow issues within weeks,” said Desmond. “It’s a dire situation which will force us to cancel entire routes and significantly reduce service levels on all transit modes, meaning far longer wait times and much more crowding for customers.”

The agency says operating revenues have been reduced by 50 percent since mid-March from a combination of factors, including a reduction in ridership levels, falling fuel tax revenue and fare removal on the bus system to promote physical distancing.

TransLink is seeking emergency relief funding from the Canadian and provincial governments to offset losses incurred for providing essential transit services during the pandemic. Emergency funding is necessary to ensure a reasonable level of essential service can be maintained while respecting safe physical distancing requirements. It is also necessary to ensure a rapid transition to full service can occur once the recovery phase begins. Without emergency funding, TransLink says Metro Vancouver commuters are set to see unprecedented cuts to transit services.

The Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) sent a request to the federal government on March 30 asking for it to step in to help Canadian transit agencies in three ways:

• Providing C$400 million (US$283.58 million) per month to help systems make up for lost revenue;
• Allow access to C$1.2 billion (US$850 million) to help systems maintain liquidity before revenue relief can arrive; and
• Assist the Canadian transit providers secure and help cover the costs of disinfectants and other personal protection equipment.

CUTA says transit has yet to be included in federal pandemic relief packages and the association notes transit service reductions hurt the people that service is meant to help during this pandemic: front-line workers.

“Transit systems are experiencing large drops in revenue and ridership,” said Marco D’Angelo, CEO of CUTA. “Large cuts to service levels will hurt front-line workers on whom we depend during this pandemic. The people who clean our buildings and work in essential retail stores take the bus to work. They deserve good levels of service so they can get home to family and do so on vehicles that allow for safe physical distancing.”

D’Angelo says without support from federal or provincial governments, layoffs and further service reductions will be more widespread and that he is hopeful transit will be included in relief efforts.

Mayors’ Council Chair Jonathan Coté notes preserving TransLink service isn’t only necessary for getting through this pandemic, but will play a role in recovering from it, as well.

“We need an emergency funding package from the provincial or federal government if reliable transit services are to continue for more than 75,000 people, who will otherwise be left stranded,” said Coté. “Essential workers have been relying on transit to get to work every day – that’s health care workers, childcare workers, service workers. Our transit system will also be critical during the COVID-19 recovery phase and we must ensure that it’s able to quickly shift back to full-service capacity when people start returning to work.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, TransLink has:

• Reduced Bus service by 15-20 percent, while also reducing SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express services.
• Reduced the seating capacity on buses to promote physical distancing.
• Introduced rear-door only boarding and suspended fare collection on buses to protect bus operators.
• Introduced widespread and intensive cleaning and sanitization measures on bus, HandyDART, SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express.
• Deferred the scheduled July 1, 2020 fare increase.