Article by Véronique Sioufi, Racial Equity Researcher and Policy Analyst, BC Policy Solutions and Denis Agar, Executive Director, MovementYVR
Metro Vancouver is on the edge of a transit cliff.
Without a new funding agreement for TransLink, the region could see up to 50% of bus service and 30% of rail service cut. On top of that, transit fares are set to rise 4% this year. These cuts and cost increases won’t fall evenly—they’ll hit hardest in working-class, racialized neighbourhoods where overcrowded buses already regularly leave people stranded.
As we face converging crises—from affordability and the housing crisis, to a climate crisis, economic uncertainty and rising inequality—investing in robust public transit is one of the most effective ways to tackle these all at once.
The transit shortfall
The disparity between transit demand and available service in Metro Vancouver is growing. Despite a 13% population increase since 2020, transit service levels have completely stagnated. TransLink faces a $600 million annual budget shortfall, which could lead to TransLink canceling up to 145 bus routes and all NightBus services, reducing SkyTrain, HandyDart and SeaBus services by up to a third, and eliminating the West Coast Express altogether. This would be among the most severe transit service reductions Metro Vancouver has seen in decades.
These cuts would erase decades of progress and disproportionately harm the people and places that depend most on transit—communities already facing affordability crises and long commutes.
More than half a million people would lose access to transit within walking distance of their home, disproportionately affecting low-income individuals, racialized communities, shift workers, students, youth and seniors. Areas like South Delta, White Rock, Langley, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge risk losing all local routes, while bus service in other cities could be reduced to infrequent, early-ending schedules that make reliable commuting impossible.
“More than half a million people would lose access to transit within walking distance of their home.”
TransLink has been forced into a “reallocation” mode, shifting buses away from lower-ridership routes to deal with severe overcrowding on others. But this strategy has limits and it has already led to painful service losses on key routes. The resulting patchwork system discourages ridership, increases reliance on cars adding to congestion and emissions and traps low-income and racialized communities in long, exhausting commutes.
This funding shortfall isn’t new or unexpected—but the outcome of years of chronic underfunding and ad-hoc crisis responses. What’s needed now is a structural solution that treats transit as essential infrastructure.
Transit justice is racial justice
Transit access is a foundational equity issue.
More than 30% of Metro Vancouver residents can’t drive—whether because of age, disability or affordability constraints, leaving them wholly reliant on the transit system for access to work, school and essential services. For these residents, transit isn’t a convenience, it’s a necessity.
Across Metro Vancouver, people of colour are significantly more likely to depend on public transit than their white counterparts. Roughly 30% of Black, Filipino and Latinx commuters use public transit to get to work, compared to just 10% of white commuters. Immigrants, particularly racialized recent immigrants and non-permanent residents, also disproportionately rely on public transit, with 30% of racialized recent immigrants and 43% of racialized non-permanent residents depending on public transit to commute to work. Transit use is also highly gendered, with women making up the majority (62%) of riders in Metro Vancouver.
Maps of the region make this pattern even clearer: the arc of neighbourhoods with the highest proportions of racialized residents closely matches the arc of neighbourhoods with the highest transit ridership. From Surrey to Richmond, through southeast Vancouver and Burnaby, the alignment is clear.
While census data only capture those commuting to work—and therefore undercounts overall transit use—it still shows how heavily racialized communities rely on transit relative to others. In effect, transit service cuts are not racially neutral: they fall hardest on communities least responsible for congestion and pollution, but most vulnerable to economic and environmental exclusion.
Without robust transit, racialized and low-income communities face:
- longer and more dangerous commutes particularly due to the loss of night buses, forcing many to walk or wait alone late at night.
- fewer job opportunities due to limited mobility.
- greater pressure to purchase a vehicle that many cannot afford.
- exclusion from services and participation in public life.
At a time when governments are choosing to limit public spending, we need to remember that public transit isn’t a luxury—it’s a lifeline. And failing to fund it would have major costs for those who can least afford them.
Public transit is a solution in this multi-crisis moment
Transit is not an isolated policy concern. It’s a linchpin issue that connects the dots between climate resilience, housing access, economic opportunity and racial equity. In the face of rising inequality, a worsening housing crisis, intensifying climate disasters and a growing struggle with affordability, expanding public transit must be recognized as a central policy solution.
Affordable homes are often located far from employment hubs and without reliable transit, residents face the impossible trade-off between housing costs and transportation costs. A robust transit system allows people to live further from job centres without losing access to opportunities. Transit is, therefore, essential for economic mobility. Access to fast, reliable transit gives workers more job options, increases bargaining power and supports equitable access to economic opportunities. It also facilitates access to health care services, education and community life.
Private vehicles are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Metro Vancouver, making a robust public transit system a critical tool for achieving climate goals. Reducing car dependency through expanded transit helps lower emissions, reduce congestion and improve air quality for everyone.
Funding transit for an equitable future
The looming transit cuts aren’t inevitable. They are the direct result of chronic underfunding and political hesitation to raise the revenue required to sustain and grow essential public services. In a rapidly growing region, transit service should expand to meet rising demand, especially in lower-income and racialized neighbourhoods that need it most.
Closing Translink’s immediate $600 million funding gap is just the starting point.
To avoid disaster, we need all three levels of government—the 21 municipalities in TransLink’s service area, the BC government, and the federal government—to step up now with meaningful commitments.
“We must stop thinking of transit as a discretionary service and start treating it as essential infrastructure for a fair, sustainable future.”
Canada needs a bold, long-term vision that treats transit as core infrastructure for a stable economy. Metro Vancouver’s relatively low property tax rates provide room to raise revenue without placing undue pressure on homeowners. But we should also be looking beyond the property tax base. Cities around the world have successfully implemented tools like congestion pricing—New York City being the latest example—to fund transit while reducing traffic and emissions and boosting business in the downtown core. BC also has significant room to increase progressive taxation, generating the public revenue needed to invest in the accessible, reliable and ideally fare-free transit system our future demands.
We must stop thinking of transit as a discretionary service and start treating it as essential infrastructure for a fair, sustainable future. In this moment of intersecting crises, transit must be at the heart of the response—not on the chopping block.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Denis Agar (he/him) is the Executive Director of Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, a non-profit that fights for faster, more reliable, more abundant public transit. Before that, he worked for 10 years as a transit planner, designing bus routes at TransLink. Learn more about MovementYVR here.
Véronique Sioufi (she/her) is the Racial Equity Researcher and Policy Analyst at BC Policy Solutions. You can read her bio here.
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