TransLink announces 2025 investment plan, prevents route and service cuts
The B.C. government, Mayors’ Council, and TransLink resort to increasing funding
Over the next three years, the B.C. government will invest $312 million in operating funding for TransLink. (Suneet Gill)
New operational funding for TransLink is preventing proposed cuts to bus routes and bus and SkyTrain services.
TransLink reported in July 2024 that it was experiencing an operational funding gap of $600 million each year.
“[Transit] provides mobility,” said Will Dawson, co-founder and organizer of Metro Vancouver Transit Riders Movement.
“It allows anyone to get from one place to another. It connects [people] to their jobs, their schools, or areas of higher education. It can connect them to their friends or family. It basically provides freedom.”
On April 10, the province, the TransLink Mayors’ Council, and the transportation authority’s board announced its 2025 Investment Plan, which proposes to increase bus services, among other initiatives, while preventing cuts. The plan is now undergoing public engagement.
The Mayors’ Council will increase property taxes by 0.5 per cent in 2025. The council includes the 21 mayors from municipalities in TransLink’s service areas, Electoral Area A, as well as the Tsawwassen First Nation.
TransLink will increase fares by five per cent in July 2026, followed by two-per-cent increases annually. With this increase, it will cost riders an additional $0.14 for an average trip. The YVR AddFare will also be increased by $1.50 in July 2026, followed by two-per-cent increases annually.
Currently, adult transit fares for one-zone travel are $3.20 or $2.60 when using a Compass Card.
The province will invest $312 million in operating funding towards TransLink over the next three years. Operating funding is the day-to-day funding TransLink requires to run buses and SkyTrains and keep systems working.
“In the provincial election, basically all parties ran on a platform of increasing service, usually in the form of building more SkyTrain lines. That’s great and all, but if you don’t have the operating funds to run those trains, then what’s the point of building any,” Dawson said.
