A Saanich councillor is calling for free transit bus passes for everyone under age 19 living in the capital region, and the transit commission’s chairwoman said it is studying the issue.
Saanich Coun. Nathalie Chambers has introduced a motion that council endorse her proposal and encourage the Victoria Regional Transit Commission to make free youth bus passes a part of its 2020 budget.
“I’m trying to support a regional initiative,” said Chambers, adding that if that fails, she will seek support for a motion calling on Saanich staff to explore alternate funding mechanisms to provide free bus passes for Saanich youth aged seven to 17.
“I really see that getting free transit passes for youth is really, really a simple thing here that we could do to get 50 per cent of the cars off the road.”
Saanich Coun. Susan Brice, who chairs the transit commission, said its 2020 budget has already been forwarded to the province, so there’s no likelihood the youth pass initiative could be introduced next year.
But, Brice said, the commission is studying the issue.
“We have asked staff to provide additional information for us. We know all the other requirements that are needed at the transit commission and we will, in due course, take appropriate action,” Brice said.
In May, Victoria started requiring payment for street parking on Sundays to offset the cost of buying bus passes for all youth under 19 in the city beginning in September. That Sunday parking revenue is estimated at $500,000 a year — far short of the $858,000 cost of the passes.
“Victoria has this very unusual situation where they have the parking money,” Brice said. “If Saanich were to look for the similar proposal, we’d have to be saying it would come off property taxes.”
In her motion, Chambers notes that Victoria’s introduction of the youth transit pass in the fall will create disparities among youth who live in different municipalities, including those attending the same school and in some cases living on the same street — for example, Richmond Road, Tolmie Avenue and Harriet Street, which border the two municipalities.
Brice said a detailed estimate of the cost of providing Saanich youth with bus passes has not been done, but it could be about $1 million.
Chambers said she doubts the cost would be anywhere near that. She also said she would be satisfied if the transit commission could include the youth passes in its 2021 budget.
Brice said there have been discussions among transit commissioners for years about providing fare-free transit, “because we think that that is something that in the long run would help get people using public transit.”
The reality, however, is that the transit commission has only three sources of revenue: the fare box, property taxes and the gas tax, she said. If one is reduced, another has to be increased.
“Our property taxpayers, obviously, have got a lot of things that they’re being asked to fund as well, so these things have to be balanced off against each other,” Brice said.
She said residents are continually calling for transit improvements such as increased frequency, increased convenience and improved reliability.
If all of the spending is focused at one area, “you foreclose on the opportunity to improve the service.”
Brice said she’s “laser focused” on improving service to increase ridership.
The commission is also committed to transitioning to zero-emission vehicles, she said. “So there’s another force of expenditures we need to balance.”
