No mention of TransLink’s funding predicament in B.C.’s budget alarmed transit advocates, the province says something is still in the works.
The absence of any mention of a resolution for TransLink’s fiscal crisis in Tuesday’s provincial budget was conspicuous enough to raise alarm bells with transit advocates aware of the agency’s looming deadline to resolve its revenue shortfall.
Since late 2023, TransLink and its Mayor’s Council have warned that the transit authority faces a structural deficit of $600 million per year as early as 2026 once pandemic-era emergency funding runs out, unless it comes up with a new funding formula for its operations.
However, the only reference to TransLink in budget documents unveiled by Finance Minister Brenda Bailey this week was to grant an increase in the agency’s maximum tax rate on parking rights.
“My fear is that the mayors and the province each say that transit funding is the other party’s problem and that neither come to the table to actually fill this deficit,” said Denis Agar, executive-director of transit advocacy group Movement.
Agar characterized the result of that as a possible “transit Apocalypse”, with a 50-per-cent reduction in bus service and 30-per-cent cut in SkyTrain and West Coast Express service that TransLink warned last year would happen.
In a statement, TransLink said a possible resolution is still in the works and that the province has made funding decisions for the transit authority “outside of the regular budget cycle” in the past.
Transportation and Transit Minister Mike Farnworth said the province made TransLink’s Mayor’s Council aware “that this year’s budget would be no different.”
“Our government recognizes the financial challenges TransLink is facing as costs and demand for more service increases,” Farnworth said. “We remain committed to investing in transit.”
Farnworth pointed out that the province helped TransLink secure $850 million in emergency funding through the pandemic, then contributed another $479 million in its 2023 budget to hold TransLink over until the end of 2025.
He added that the province is continuing “to work with the Mayor’s Council to ensure people will continue to access excellent public transit options.”
The chair of the Mayor’s Council, however, worries there is a message in the fact that TransLink’s fiscal concerns weren’t mentioned in what is being viewed as a hold-the-line provincial budget.
“It suggest that if there is something that happens afterwards, maybe it’s not going to be on the level that is sufficient to deal with what has been a decades-in-the-making problem at the transit authority,” said chair and Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West.
West noted that TransLink has a deadline by the end of April to come up with a financial plan for 2026, but it is difficult to read into undefined assurances about being able to reach a decision outside of the budget process when it includes a record $10.9-billion deficit.
A week ago, speaking at a Surrey Board of Trade event on regional growth, West said as a “realist and a pragmatist,” he understands the province’s challenges in dealing with both a deficit and the need to defend B.C.’s interests under U.S. tariffs.
However, he added that he was unwilling to “let people off the hook” because of world events that are beyond anyone’s control. West said sound public transit is a public service that will help make B.C. less susceptible to damage from external forces such as tariffs.
“I’m just growing quite tired of the kind of political theatre and games surrounding all of this, West said.
In another small transportation-related change in the budget, the province ended a sales-tax exemption on the sale of used zero-emission vehicles as of May 1.
The measure was supposed to stay in place until the end of 2027, but is now expected to raise $48 million in fiscal 2026 and $54 million in fiscal 2027.
To the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association, however, the move was disappointing following the province’s previous measure that reduced the price threshold for vehicles included in its rebate program for new vehicles, said president Bob Porter.
For buyers, though, Porter said the $1,000 to $2,000 savings that the sales tax exemption represents is enough to tip the balance for a lot of consumers thinking about a used zero-emission vehicle.
“If it’s going to save them $40 million when they’ve got a $10.9-billion deficit, it seems like they’re going after one jelly bean out of a jar,” Porter said.