Would offering free transit be gas-price relief solution?
Analysis in other cities has found `marginal' impact on car use
B.C.'s environment minister has slammed the door on the B.C. Green pitch to make public transit free for four months to give drivers relief from soaring gas prices and reduce vehicle emissions.
But would such a plan actually get people to ditch their car in favour of a bus or SkyTrain?
Evidence from cities across the world has shown that free transit might not be enough to pull drivers out of their cars, especially if public transit options are limited, as they are outside of B.C.'s urban centres.
As gas prices climbed to a record 233.9 cents a litre in Metro Vancouver, both opposition parties are imploring the NDP government to do something to lessen the pain.
Last week, the Liberals said the province should follow Alberta's lead and temporarily waive the 8.5-cent-a-litre provincial gas tax.
The government has repeatedly ruled out a gas tax holiday and on Tuesday, Environment Minister George Heyman rejected the idea of free transit.
He said the province and federal government have spent $820 million in the past two years to keep fares low and prevent the transit authorities from cutting routes because of low ridership during the pandemic.
Green Leader Sonia Furstenau said she's disappointed the government has already dismissed the idea.
With monthly transit passes priced between $85 and $181, Furstenau said making transit free would save riders up to $724 each in the next four months.
Free ridership must also come with spending on transit infrastructure across the province, Furstenau said, “particularly in the underserved areas to ensure that people do have an alternative to driving their cars.”
“We have to shape a future that has transportation alternatives for people that are affordable, that are accessible, that are reliable, and to do that, (the government) needs to invest in them,” she said.
TransLink, which serves Metro Vancouver, said such a plan would be expensive and ineffective in reducing car traffic.
It would mean $160 million in lost revenue over four months, said TransLink spokeswoman Tina Lovgreen.
That figure would be even higher if the B.C. Bus Pass program for low-income seniors and people with disabilities and the B.C. U-Pass program for students are also suspended.
For B.C. Transit, which serves Vancouver Island and communities outside of Metro Vancouver, free fares for four months would cost $20.8 million in lost revenue.
“The cost of transit is not the primary reason why people choose transit over driving,” Lovgreen said.
“The main drivers are convenience, frequency of service and connections to where they are commuting to.”
In 2013, the Institute of Transport Economics in Norway did an analysis of free transit schemes in cities across Europe. It found that while free transit does boost ridership, it mainly draws people who were walking or cycling.
“The effects on car traffic levels are marginal and typically they are offset ... after a few years' traffic growth,” the report found.
TransLink has not had a surge in ridership due to high gas prices.
The transit service's ridership in recent weeks is about 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
“If gas prices were causing a surge, we would arguably see higher recovery than anticipated,” Lovgreen said.