Photo TransLink
Commuters will pay more to ride the bus and SkyTrain starting on Canada Day.
TransLink is increasing the price of single-use concession fares by 5 cents for stored value fares and 10 cents for cash fares starting on July 1.
Single-use adult fares, including HandyDART, will increase by 10 cents.
The price of a DayPass is increasing by 25 cents and monthly passes are going up by $1 for a single zone or $2 for two and three zone passes.
Fare increases will be the same on West Coast Express.
TransLink spokesperson Chris Bryan says the change is part of phase one of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation's 10-year vision and scheduled increases will help fund service improvements.
"This is helping us to pay for a variety of expanded service to help us address the crowding and congestion that's happening throughout the transit system. We are one of the fastest growing ridership cities in North America," Bryan says.
TransLink recorded an all-time high in Metro Vancouver ridership for 2017. The number of boardings increased by 5.7 per cent from 2016 to 2017 and the number of journeys on the system increased 5.8 per cent from the previous year.
Four new B-line routes will be in service starting in September of 2019 increasing bus service by 10 per cent.
TransLink is also adding 56 new SkyTrain and 24 new Canada Line cars starting in late 2018 into 2019 to increase rail service by 20 per cent.
"We're always sensitive to the fact that not everybody has money to spare. We definitely try to keep fare increases modest and just increase a little bit each year. Metro Vancouver still has among the lowest average fares of all major Canadian cities," he says.
