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3/20/2023
TransLink in Vancouver, British Columbia, has received CA$479 million in funding from the province.
The funds will help stabilize fares, support public transit infrastructure and services, avoid service cuts, continue providing free public transit for children 12 years and under and enable transit expansion plans, provincial officials said in a press release.
TransLink's "urgent financial needs" are in part caused by escalating costs and changing travel and commute patterns that formed during the pandemic, they added. The transit agency's finances are expected to improve in the long term, they said.
"The province will continue discussions with the federal government on a potential funding partnership. However, given TransLink’s significant and immediate needs, the province is taking action with this funding stabilization to address TransLink’s short-term operating funding needs, preventing layoffs and maintaining transit services that will create jobs and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, which benefits residents and visitors to Metro Vancouver," said Rob Fleming, the province's minister of transportation and infrastructure.
British Columbia has provided more than CA$850 million to the transportation authority during the pandemic, plus CA$2.4 billion for TransLink's 2022 investment plan, which calls for for increasing service on the busiest train and bus routes through "strategic service reallocation" and supporting transit-oriented developments.