Lack of transit funds in budget concerning: TransLink Mayors’ Council

The chair of the TransLink Mayors’ Council says he was disappointed to see a lack of new transit projects outlined for Metro Vancouver in the province’s 2024 budget.

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West says although there is money set aside for projects such as the Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension, it’s concerning that nothing new has been announced for TransLink.

He says the need is dire, and if they don’t get more funding soon, they will have to look at service cuts starting in 2026 — and he says there will be big ones.

“The current investment plan takes them to the end of 2025,” he said. “If there’s nothing in its place, then they fall off a fiscal cliff and that will mean a significant reduction in service.”

With the region’s population growing fast, TransLink says they’re already over capacity. As we come up to the election several months away, West says he hopes politicians understand how much people genuinely depend on transit systems.

“There’s more than half a million people that depend on this service every single day, to get to work, to get to school, to get to where they need to go,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of it becoming some political football.”

Meanwhile, with possible cuts on the horizon rather than expansions, West says wishlist projects that TransLink has been working on for years, such as the Burnaby Mountain gondola, are becoming less and less likely.

He says TransLink has a period of two weeks from now to secure funding for 2026 before it has to start planning for major service cuts.

The Leader Spirit has reached out to TransLink and the Ministry of Transportation for comment.