TransLink is apologizing after a Vancouver woman says a transit security officer kicked her off a NightBus when her monthly pass wouldn’t work, even though she tried to prove she had purchased one.
It happened to Global News Radio anchor Bailey Nicholson around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, at Kingsway and Main Street.
“I tapped my Compass Card and it beeped red and it was saying insufficient funds,” she explained.
But despite offering to find a receipt for the card, Nicholson said she was denied.
“He said ‘no it doesn’t matter, it’s coming up on the screen that you don’t have money on the card, you’re going to need to pay the $2.85’,” she said.
“I said, ‘You don’t care if I have to walk home?’ and he says, ‘Nope’.”
Nicholson said she explained that there was nowhere open at that hour to attempt to reload the card, but that the officer wouldn’t budge.
“I’m just so shocked by that because I feel like the reason we have these night buses is because people can get home.”
Instead, she said, she exited the bus and took a cab home.
TransLink spokesperson Jill Drews said even if the card was empty, Nicholson should have been given a ride home.
“Getting our customers home safely is priority number one, especially with a service like the NightBus,” she said.
“It is not our policy to remove our customers from NightBus when they don’t have sufficient fare.”
Drews said, TransLink is investigating and will be talking to security employees about NightBus policy.