Expressing views as parents, public transit users and politicians, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board members applauded Sunshine Coast Transit’s (SCT) fare free travel for youth aged 13 to 18, as the first progress report on the initiative was reviewed at their Feb. 27 meeting.
Youth encouraged to get and use their S-pass
About 43 per cent of those eligible have made the effort to obtain an S-Pass, the card created to support the program. A report on the meeting agenda noted since the Nov. 1 launch of the program, 635 S-Passes have been issued while School District #46 indicates there are 1,473 local students in Grades 8 through 12.
At the meeting, community services manager Shelley Gagnon explained that youth without an S-pass are allowed free passage on buses but are encouraged by drivers to get their card. S-passes can be obtained at SCRD recreational facilities, the same locations that hosted sign-up drives when the initiative launched. She emphasized the importance, to local government, of young people making sure they obtain and use a card for bus travel and highlighted that before the program was introduced, SCT sold 100 to 120 monthly youth transit passes.
Area E director and transit rider Kate-Louise Stamford commented that she was “amazed at the change in youth taking transit” over the past months. Inquiring about whether the number of youth riders boarding without S-passes was impacting driver workloads, Gagnon responded that she wasn’t aware of any complaints.
Sechelt area director Darren Inkster and Halfmoon Bay representative Justine Gabias, both transit users, also reported seeing larger numbers of youth on the routes they travelled on.
As a parent of a youth who recently transitioned to transit use, Sechelt director and board chair Alton Toth, said his daughter had suggested to him there be follow-up promotion of the program at local schools. Gagnon said the program's 2025 budget of $86,000 covers only the loss of revenue from providing free fares, with no budget for staff to undertake such events.
Program reviews and statistics
That lack of staff resourcing also precluded a youth transit user survey, as suggested by Gabias. There was discussion at the board of encouraging students undertake that work themselves, as a way for the group that lobbied for the service to show support for its continuation. While the student champions of the program have since graduated, Gibsons area director Silas White noted adults who were involved in lobbying the board for the change are still on the Coast and may be able to help organize youth in such an effort.
Gagnon explained that the first round of electronically collected data from S-pass utilization, which is to include details on when, where and how often the cards are being used, will be made available in 2025’s quarter two department reports.
Area E director Donna McMahon pointed out that as youth transit is now free, with the B.C. government’s program for riders under 13 years of age and the SCRD’s more recent initiative, concession fare counts from SCT since last November will give the board better information on transit use by seniors; something that has not been available in the past.
