After abandoning efforts to slash youth bus-fare prices or eliminate them altogether by the end of 2019, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors have thrown their weight behind a different tactic.
“I think there’s an opportunity here,” said Lori Pratt, SCRD chair and director for Halfmoon Bay, during the Jan. 30 infrastructure services committee meeting, before making a motion to launch a pilot project to offer free fares for a limited number of youth. Directors voted to include the project in Round 2 budget deliberations, happening next week, during the afternoon board meeting.
“We have no data and we need that, and we need to start somewhere,” Pratt said, explaining her rationale for the pilot.
The proposal would see the SCRD provide 50 monthly passes to youth for five months, working in collaboration with Transportation Choices Sunshine Coast and School District No.46 (SD46).
A number of conditions would apply, said Pratt, such as prioritizing students who “express a commitment to report and measure both transit use before and after and can demonstrate that vehicle trips and greenhouse gas emissions are avoided.”
SD46 principals and educators would provide the passes to students in need “with their private discretion,” and “any sharing of data and personal privacy [must] be protected except when students voluntarily share their experiences.” She also suggested the passes be given to youth across Sunshine Coast communities.
An earlier meeting with SD46’s chair and vice chair showed “there’s keen interest from the elected officials to see something like this happen” with their collaboration, said Pratt.
Sechelt director Darnelda Siegers said in Victoria when free passes were introduced to students they began “selling their bus passes” and asked how to prevent such as side effect. Pratt said preventive measures would be folded into the pilot, such as determining whether passes should have photo ID.
Gibsons director David Croal voiced his support for the effort. “There’s an absurd social stigma associated with riding the bus and the earlier you can encourage people to use the system, the more successful it’s going to be,” he said. “I don’t think it’s something we can really ignore, we really have to support it.”
Also coming forward is the inclusion of a youth transit demand assessment as a budget proposal at Round 2 budget deliberations. An online survey for youth would be a component of that, and staff suggested the pilot could run parallel with that survey.
Directors had initially looked into fare reduction options for youth after parents advocated for it in the fall of 2019. In December, a petition was submitted with 350 Sunshine Coast students requesting reduced or free fares.
