The TransLink Mayors’ Council is inviting you to send a letter of support, asking the government to fund urgent transit expansion in Metro Vancouver.

Simply visit accessforeveryone.ca/petition, enter your email and postal code to send a letter to your local members of the Legislative Assembly and Parliament, ministers of finance, and ministers responsible for infrastructure.

The letter reads, in part:

“As a Metro Vancouver resident, I’m concerned that our region doesn’t have enough public transit to serve our growing communities… If we don’t act now, thousands of people will be left behind by full buses every day and new housing will be left unserved… I urge you in your role as an elected official to ensure the necessary funding commitments are made – now – to protect public transit as an essential service and keep our economy and residents moving.”

It’s part of a new Mayors’ Council campaign in partnership with community leaders. Supporters of the campaign include the Surrey Board of Trade, HUB Cycling, Simon Fraser Student Society and the AMS Student Society of UBC, with additional organizations expected to join the campaign in the coming weeks.

Demand for transit in Metro Vancouver continues to rise. Post-pandemic ridership recovery is now at more than 90 per cent, surpassing all other major transit systems in Canada and the United States, including New York, Toronto, Montreal and Miami.

However, transit service levels have remained frozen since the beginning of the pandemic and overcrowding in some areas have surpassed the previous record set in 2019. At that time, TransLink’s service was expanding every year and population growth was half of what it is today.

Currently, more than a quarter of rush-hour trips in Vancouver and Surrey overcrowded. It’s set to worsen four-to-five times by 2025 without additional service.

That’s why the Mayors’ Council unanimously approved the first phase of the Access for Everyone transit expansion plan, which TransLink is ready to start rolling out in mid-2024 if funding can be secured by April. It includes the finalizing of planning for three new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects, expansion of TransLink’s bus fleet and additional bus depot capacity, active transportation and road safety projects, and new bus service starting in September 2024 focused on the most critical off-peak overcrowding hotspots around the region.

TransLink just launched the new R6 Scott Road RapidBus service in Surrey, which is the final project from its previous expansion plan, the 10-Year Vision. As ridership surges across the region, no further expansion of transit service will occur until regional, provincial and federal governments commit funding for the new Access for Everyone plan.

With funding and partnership from the Province of BC, TransLink bounced back from the pandemic faster than any other big city transit system in North America. But Metro Vancouver now needs to launch forward. This campaign is designed to help residents tell the Federal Government it’s time for them to step up, and to let the BC Government know the region needs their continued support to keep expanding its transit system.

To voice your support, as well as learn more about the campaign and the Access for Everyone plan, please visit accessforeveryone.ca/petition.