Letter to MLA’s
Members of the Provincial Legislature:
Bill 44- the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act mandates a 33% reduction in GHG by 2020. One strategy in that reduction is BC’s Provincial Transit Plan, which will try to double transit ridership through the same time frame, saving approximately 4.7 million tonnes of GHG. The following proposal will assist in both, provide leadership on the environmental file, create enriched educational opportunities for our children, and give transit a much needed public relations boost.
We propose the creation of a low-cost annual group transit pass for youth (K-12) for use on educational trips (field trips, science fairs, theatrical performances, etc.). The pass would cover youth, teachers, and support persons, allowing them to go to and from their destination as a group. We suggest an annual fee of $10.00 per Annual Group Transit Pass to cover administrative costs. The proposal has been presented at recent TransLink consultation workshops (see attachment) and has garnered wide community support.
The current fare structure is particularly onerous for ESL populations, youth at risk, and /or children with poverty issues(BC has the highest child poverty rate in Canada). The pass is needed because the cost of transit for field trips has become a major barrier, making important educational and social objectives difficult to achieve. It doesn’t matter how low we get our buses to “kneel” if the fare box becomes an even greater barrier to accessibility. Kids are lucky to have even one school field trip a year, which does little to expand their worlds or support educational and cultural goals. It also has negative impacts on local economies where museums, parks, theatres.,science centres ( and even free destinations like public libraries) see diminished attendance and revenues.
If each of the 330,000 school aged children in the lower mainland take just 1 field trip per year, they generate 660,000 trips. Trips that can occur in private automobiles, rented buses, or on existing transit. Since they occur mostly during school, the trips are in transit’s “off-peak hours” and can be accommodated within existing service levels. Thus additional ridership can be achieved with little direct cost. Additionally, it would both introduce children to public transit, and model its use. Think “raise a rider”.
“Raise a rider” means simply that, in order to get people to choose transit over other alternatives, we need to introduce them to the functionality and benefits of transit as children. In an age where kids no longer walk to school, to the local community centre, or the library, where will they actively learn that the public transit system can get them out there and connect them to their communities and beyond? What better time than through field trips?
A low cost annual group transit pass would encourage group trips to many destinations—including 2010 legacy sites—while giving children a direct experience of local transit. It would create a win-win situation where we now have publicly funded institutions working at cross-purposes. It would be a shame to see Olympic legacies squandered because their was no alternative fare options other than the current $105-$210 plus (1 zone-3 zone) to take the bus there and back.
This proposal has earned support from a wide array of groups at both local and provincial level, including:
:
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David Suzuki Foundation
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BCTF
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BC School Trustees Association
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BC Council of Parent Advisory Committees
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Vancouver City Council
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BC Field Trip Association
A full list is available at out website: www.TripEd.info
You can help TransLink “Raise a Rider” by actively supporting the inclusion of a group transit pass for your youngest constituents. The viability of TransLink and of transit in the Metro region is ultimately in your hands. We hope the Ministers of Transport, Education and the Environment as well as our Premier, find this initiative worthy of their direct support. The creation of a Group Transit Pass would be an Olympic sized legacy for the children of BC.
Sincerely,
The TripEd Committee
Schula Leonard, Cynthia Wong, Krista Tulloch
604-254-8533