Welcome to the campaign to make BC public transit province-wide. Now that the BC NDP has a majority government we need to press them for public transit.
We are also calling for endorsements from citizens and interested groups across the province. This includes the Union of BC Indian Chiefs which has written to NDP Premier John Horgan in support of the campaign: In the letter the UBCIC points to British Columbia’s longstanding transit scarcity “especially in rural and northern communities, which disproportionately impacts Indigenous peoples.”
The current system just doesn’t adequately address the safety concerns, economic interests or social needs of our citizens, many of whom live in rural areas, small municipalities or remote communities. Lots of those smaller communities have no access to public transit or even a taxi service. Instead, transit across BC is a patchwork of good service, poor service and no service at all, depending on where you live. Reliance on private companies to provide transit services has left us stranded when those companies shut down or move on.
Get on board here: https://bcwidebus.wordpress.com/take-the-pledge/
If you wish, you can describe your community’s regional transit needs and/or your personal experiences trying to get around the province
Contact E mail:publictransitbcwide@gmail.com – or visit here on Facebook.
More at https://bcwidebus.wordpress.com/background/
The complete UBCIC letter is available here: UBCIC_PublicTransitBCWide
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UPDATE:
Thanks for sharing your regional transit stories and your interest in joining the campaign for public transit BC wide. Here’s an update on what we’ve been thinking about and doing and planning:
There’s no denying that we face an uphill battle. The provincial government has so far seemed content with the current patchwork of private bus companies. BC Transportation Minister Rob Fleming has hinted at bailouts for some private operators and downplayed expansion of more public services like the Highway of Tears bus and BC Bus North. But we are getting lots of support from affected individuals and groups like you who see the vast advantages of controlling our own transportation future.
In some ways, there’s never been a better time to change the status quo. The pandemic has shown what happens when we cut traditional traffic – bluer skies and cleaner air. Instead of throwing more public money at faltering private operators, we can build our own clean, safe, forward looking, accessible, affordable transit service. Then we could easily introduce things like safer depots/stops, better schedules and a one fare card payment system. The federal government recently announced major funding for transit – some of which could be used for projects expanding rural routes in BC.
We’re planning to host an online webinar soon featuring different voices on the ways and means of creating that publicly-owned and operated BC-wide bus system. We’ll be inviting you once we nail down dates and times and speakers. Please keep on pushing for Public Transit BC Wide!