A Metro Vancouver municipality is being proactive about potential transit cuts in the community.
TransLink raised alarm bells last month when it warned of a looming budget deficit that could result in staggering cuts.
They included slashing bus service in half, reducing SkyTrain and SeaBus service by up to a third and potentially scrapping the West Coast Express service entirely.
The City of Delta has directed its staff to develop an advocacy plan to make sure it and other suburban municipalities get funding for the transit they need.
Mayor George Harvie told Global News that any potential cuts would be far-reaching.
“The service cuts would be devastating,” he said.
“It would shut down the availability of transit for our residents, for our workers in our industrial areas. It will affect availability of Delta Hospital doctors, nurses and support staff to get to work,” he said.
“It’s almost unthinkable. But having to reduce the transit services … the report stated Delta would probably have no bus services. I can’t imagine it, but it’s totally unacceptable.”
Harvie said the provincial and federal governments need to step up and provide funding in order to avoid these cuts.
The communities of Langley, White Rock, South Delta, Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and much of the North Shore would be left with “almost no transit services,” TransLink claims.
“Delta council has directed staff to initiate, even, petitions,” Harvie said.
“We’re going to be, in the next two to three weeks, very busy putting information signs up in our bus shelters. We need to get this message out. And when I talk to people about this coming, they don’t know what I’m talking about. A lot of people just don’t realize what is going to happen.”
TransLink has warned that cuts could begin as early as 2025.