CRD to look into costs, benefits of free youth bus passes

From Sidney to Sooke, teens across the Capital Region could one day hop aboard buses for free. On Oct. 22, the CRD’s transportation committee voted in favour of a motion directing staff to look into the costs, benefits and implications of a free bus pass program for kids aged 13 to 18. Victoria councillor Jeremy Caradonna, who tabled the motion with Victoria councillor Dave Thompson, said “fair, free youth bus passes are something that have very, very, very tangible, real-world impacts on peoples’ lives, and I think the volume of emails and delegations we’ve had on this shows that the community wants us at the very least to be exploring it.” While the province offers free fares for kids 12 and under, Victoria is the only community in the CRD that provides free passes for youth aged 13 to 18. In an Oct. 20 news release, Caradonna and Thompson said approximately 70 per cent of youth in Victoria use the city’s free passes. “The success of the Victoria program suggests that extending this program equitably across the region would deliver value for CRD residents in other municipalities and increase transit ridership,” said the pair. Other communities with similar programs have clocked ridership increases, too. Nathan Bird of the Victoria Transit Riders Union said data from Kingston, Ont. shows that free passes there allowed 10 per cent of teens to participate in recreational activities that they otherwise would not be able to. “It’s … about removing a prohibitive barrier to engagement with their communities and in doing so allowing youth to live more active, social, happier and healthier lives,” he added. Colwood mayor Doug Kobayashi, however, called the move “fiscally irresponsible,” adding free passes aren’t one of the transportation committee’s strategic priorities. Sooke mayor Maja Tait said free passes wouldn’t address a lack of buses available to youth in her community. “There are simply not enough buses to meet the demand here,” she said. But Langford mayor Scott Goodmanson said free youth passes could actually help address a lack of transit available in some of the region’s communities. “It’s hard to get anywhere with B.C. Transit, and we’re routinely told that they won’t improve service until the need is there,” he added. “I think there is a benefit to possibly loading up the system because it’s going to show them they need to put their proverbial money where their mouth is.” This analysis of youth passes will be part of the CRD’s updates to its regional transportation plan, which won’t be complete until 2027. By then, a new transit committee will be tasked with deciding whether or not to move forward with a regional free pass program.