The Sunshine Coast Regional District board is including $28,850 in this year’s budget to support free access to local transit for youth aged 12 to 18.
Recommended in Round 2 committee discussions and approved at board on Feb. 8, that commitment will have regional staff preparing to have the program in place by September.
Individuals and organizations that have lobbied for the service since 2019, including Town of Gibson youth councillor Cael Read, could view their work as done. But Read said he is just getting started. He has his eyes on expanding his advocacy efforts with the provincial government.
"I am planning on attending the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities [convention] with Silas White, in my role as Gibsons Youth Representative, where there is a motion in support of the initiative, and in addition Silas and I have meetings planned to present the case at the Provincial level,” Read stated in a Feb. 12 email to Coast Reporter.
That convention starts April 1 in Victoria. A motion to be considered by event delegations includes a call from the Coast’s local governments requesting the province expand its free transit for youth program to include those up to age 18. Since Sept. 1, 2021, transit systems in B.C. have been funded to provide transportation at no charge to children 12 and under.
Local program in the planning stage
As for this fall’s local expanded free fare roll out, Read noted it still needs to be decided on how exactly that will go forward. He indicated that the SCRD has not reached out to him about meetings to plan the implementation strategy.
And there are things he would like to suggest to them. When it comes to the recently introduced Umo virtual fare payment system, his view is that is “a promising option for delivering free student transit." With Umo employing both a phone app and physical card, the youth councillor sees the system as accessible to all young people, including those who do not have electronic devices.
“I have started using Umo, as have many people I know. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews of the system, some people find it more convenient having the payment on their phone, however people have encountered glitches with it not working properly," said Read. "I have heard some concerns with the SCRD phasing out bus tickets, as they provided a discounted fare rate for purchasing a larger quantity of fares beforehand. It would be interesting to see if the SCRD would explore the option of having a cheaper rate for people who use Umo, at least as it is still quite new, to encourage use.
"Personally, I think it is a great step to making fare payments on the busses easier, however I think it definitely could benefit from clearer communication and further development in the future, as well as an expansion to include credit and debit payments," Read stated.
Giving credit to all involved
Inspired by seeing the expanded free youth transit initiative move from concept toward reality, Read also hinted that other improvements to Sunshine Coast Transit are needed, including investments in the HandyDART service, to ensure “we have a transit system that is accessible for all people”.
While there is still work to do, Read stressed the importance of recognizing the community effort that led to the local government funding the expansion of free youth transit.
“This would not have been possible without the support from all of the organizations that supported the campaign, including School District 46, District Parents Advisory Committee, the Town of Gibsons, Transportation Choices, and all the individuals who were involved along the way to make this a success. A special shoutout to Silas White, who has championed this initiative, and was a constant advocate at the SCRD table,” he wrote.
