How Public Transit Cuts Hurt Low-Income Workers
Low-income workers depend on robust public transit, but the future looks bleak for transit post-pandemic
Though a second wave of COVID-19 infections remains top of mind as we begin to look at re-opening economies, my biggest worry is the cut to services that low-income people depend on to survive.
Take my city, Vancouver, BC, as an example. TransLink operates our bus, SkyTrain (our above-ground subway system), SeaBus (which links North Vancouver with downtown Vancouver by water), and commuter train systems across the Metro Vancouver area. They’ve done their part to help out during this crisis — they began waiving bus fares on March 20 and done a good job maintaining social distancing on their systems — but TransLink has lost $75 million dollars per month since the pandemic began. That could rise to $90 million. Close to 1,500 workers were laid off in April. Dozens of bus routes have been suspended, and service has been decreased across all transit systems.
During the pandemic, all this is understandable, but what’s truly scary is that a restoration of TransLink’s service won’t keep pace with the economy’s gradual re-opening. Many workers who depend on transit won’t be able to anymore, especially in Maple Ridge, where most bus routes connecting the suburban community to the greater metro area and within its own limits have been gutted.
Maple Ridge also happens to be the community I live in. I work in nearby Coquitlam, and in the Before Times, I would take the first bus of the day to arrive for my 5 a.m. start time. Though my bus route is the route with the best-preserved service, guess which trips have been cancelled? The earliest and latest ones, of course, with the lowest ridership.
It makes monetary sense to cancel the routes and trips with the lowest ridership, but hollowing out bus service is also going to hollow out economic opportunities for the people who most need them. People don’t ride the bus at 4:10 a.m. for the hell of it. They do it to get where they need to be to make money. My job pays the best wage I’ve ever had and I find it rewarding and even fun. I’ve never had a better job.
Unfortunately, it hinges on a now-fragile system. If, once I’m back to work, I can’t get to my workplace for 5 a.m., I have to find a new job. I’ll be unlikely to find a job that pays that well, and even more unlikely to find one I love.
TransLink hopes for “near regular” service to resume by September, but if I go back anytime between now and then, I’ll have to find some way to get to work safely and affordably. Taxis are $30 each way. Uber doesn’t operate here. It’s a long, dark stretch of highway between home and work… I’d rather not end up the subject of a true crime documentary, if I can avoid it.
I understand why TransLink has made these cuts. Ridership is down 83 percent. Even aside from mandated economic shutdown and health regulations, many transit users who have other options have taken them. Who would want to sit on a bus right now, with all the risks that entails? No one, really — except those for whom that bus ride means more. Working people who rely on public transit because they have no other choice are a very vulnerable group right now, and that vulnerability could be devastating if transit sees long-term gutting.
This pandemic has thrown everything into chaos. There are arguments on all sides about bailouts and emergency funding. I think TransLink and other transit providers should be near the top of the government’s list. The future of low-income workers depends on it.
