Local officials voted to raise bus fares across all rider categories for the first time in more than a decade last week — and may also have minted the first campaign issue for Salt Spring’s fall election candidates, punting plans for a taxpayer-funded expansion of the island’s transit system until after Oct. 17.
Those fare increases were built around a “middle ground” option presented to the Local Community Commission (LCC) after BC Transit completed a four-month fare structure review. The LCC voted Thursday, March 19 to approve phased two-year increases in single-ride, DayPASS, 10-ticket and monthly passes, projected to increase revenue by 16 per cent next year and another seven per cent the next.
Single rides, which have been $2.25, will be going up to $2.75 on May 2 and $3 in 2027; DayPASS fares will rise from $4.50 to $5.50 and then $6; and 10-ticket fares will go up from $20 to $24.75 — and $27 by 2027.
Adult monthly passes, which have cost $50 on Salt Spring, will rise to $55 this year and $60 in 2027. Discount monthly passes for students aged 13-18 and seniors 65+ have been priced at a 20 per cent discount at $40, and will be rising to $47 in May and $51 next year — shrinking that discount to 15 per cent.
Notably, while the first year increase adds 22 per cent to the cost of single-ride tickets, monthly adult passes are going up by just 10 per cent.
“I think the structure here [around] increasing the cash fare will impact visitors, proportionately speaking, more than residents, and it’s the right way to go,” said CRD director and LCC member Gary Holman, noting it was the most popular of three options presented to riders during engagement events and surveys. “Riders should be expected to make a contribution to the existing service, and certainly should be expected to if we’re considering increasing the level of service.”
But expansion of the system — either by adding new routes or increasing bus frequency on existing ones — remains off the table for now, a result of BC Transit’s postponing of many such projects across the province. Holman has also expressed an unwillingness to unilaterally raise the so-called “borrowing cap” for the service to a level those expansions are expected to require. In what has been a source of some friction between Holman and other LCC members, the CRD director had insisted such a raise in borrowing limits — a jump up to $900,000 — should be put before voters, and held the increase on the cap to 25 per cent. That amount, alongside the fare hikes, is expected to just cover maintaining the existing bus service levels.
Recent senior government announcements may have taken even more wind from the sails of that disagreement anyhow; while there were inflationary increases for transit in the province’s February budget, there were no new dollars allocated for expansion anywhere in B.C., transit officials said.
On Thursday, the LCC voted — with Holman and LCC member Gayle Baker in opposition — to wait until after the Oct. 17 election to even discuss raising the cap further, putting the brakes on a notional plan to add a borrowing question to the ballot.
“We know we’re not going to have reason to spend [at a higher level] for some time, due to the province’s fiscal situation and budget decisions,” said LCC member Brian Webster. “I also think we need a comprehensive strategy, and I don’t think we should be tying the hands of our successors. The urgency to do this by October is not there, and the importance of having the big picture figured out is.”
BC Transit will be launching a marketing campaign to notify riders of the changes before introducing them across all Salt Spring routes Saturday, May 2.