RELEASE: Support is building for a Low-Income Transit Pass! | Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders

As the July 1st fare increase looms, support is building for a low-income transit pass

Langley City council is voting on a motion on Monday, 2,400+ individuals have emailed their MLA in support, 50+ organizations have signed on, and our rally is coming up on July 1st!

For Immediate Release
June 26, 2026

Metro Vancouver is one of the only urban areas in Canada that doesn’t offer a discounted transit pass for low-income people. Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Seattle all have one, so why not us? Transit is a lifeline to services, community, and economic opportunity, and no one should be excluded from transit because they can’t afford it.

Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders and the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition have been campaigning hard for a low-income transit pass, and the day of the fare increase is rapidly approaching. On July 1st, transit fares are going up by 5%, and last year they went up by 4%. There are too many people who are struggling to afford transit, and this desperately needs to change.

We’ve been quite busy!

– 2,400+ emails sent to MLAs

– 50+ organizations signed on our coalition

– over a dozen media mentions

– beautiful art, posters and zines

– June 25th Mayor’s Council appearance

– a rally coming up on July 1st

– a Vancouver Council motion, soon Langley, and possibly more municipalities?!?

Langley City Council Motion on June 29th

Mayor Pachal is bringing forward a motion to recommend supporting a low-income transit pass! We’re hopeful it will pass so that they can join in with Vancouver on the list of municipalities asking the province for a low-income transit pass. We’re working with more cities that will be joining over the coming months.

Rally on July 1st

Find us outside of Metrotown Skytrain Station on Wednesday, July 1st at noon! We promise rousing speeches and first-hand stories of how a low-income transit pass would make a difference in people’s lives. We expect it to conclude by 1:30pm.

Beautiful art, posters and zines

Our community is full of creative talent! Check out the incredible artwork from Hiller Goodspeed, Annie Canto, Emily Huang, Meeti Dhanoa, Jessie Sohpaul, and Arson Vremea. We also have a zine and posters translated to eight different languages.

Delegating to the Mayor’s Council

On June 25th, Movement staff member Aman Chandi presented an update to the Mayor’s Council on the need for a low-income transit pass. Our volunteer Chris Ng made an appeal which was featured in the Langley Advance Times. TransLink also supports a low-income transit pass, and they studied it and recommended it back in 2024.

Quotes

“My own friends are struggling. I know somebody in Richmond who has so little cash on hand that they can’t even go to job interviews. We went to a job fair last week and afterwards their compass card had single digits in dollars left.”

Chris Ng, Movement Volunteer speaking to the Mayor’s Council on June 25th

“All of our peer cities have a LIT pass, and it’s time for us to join them. How can we expect someone to get out of poverty if they can’t access employment, education, or even family supports? The more you think about it, the more you realise that transportation access is as essential to human wellbeing as food and shelter.”

Denis Agar, Executive Director, Movement

Coalition Members

Contact

Denis Agar
Executive Director
778-776-8806
denis@movementyvr.ca
http://movementyvr.ca

Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders is a non-profit that represents our region’s one million transit riders. We’ve often been left out of the conversation, and we’re here to speak up for faster, more reliable, more abundant transit. We’re focused on the growing number of bus routes where riders are left behind by full buses, day after day, primarily in Surrey and South Vancouver, as well as the urgent need for bus lanes that cost almost nothing but massively improve commutes for hundreds of thousands of people.