The Insanity of Our Bus System: Transit or Welfare?

The definition of insanity is that you keep doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome. Well, if we want people out of their cars and onto transit, we’re going to have change the way we think about our transit system.

If you ride the Coast Mountain buses (the Translink operating company) in the Lower Mainland, you know just how depressing most of them are. Most are old, noisy, smelly (inside) and simply not an attractive alternative to riding in your own vehicle. That, and the schedules are sparse on most routes, and they’re rarely on time.

Why is this, d’ya think? Well, the root cause is that buses are not viewed as a transportation system delivering mobility. They’re seen as “transportation of last resort for people who can’t afford a car”. The conventional wisdom is that anybody who can afford a car won’t take the bus. Therefore, buses don’t need to be an attractive option because for the people using them, buses are the only option.

It’s this tacit acceptance that buses are for people who have no other options that has allowed buses to become part of our social welfare system. Bus fares, as the Bus Rider’s Union will stoutly protest, have to be kept low to assure easy access to the system. Their logic seems to be that raising fares and improving service will keep lower income people off the buses. Their reasoning is probably sound, but I'm not sure that relieving the travails of poverty is Translink's mission.

If we want people who can afford cars out of their cars, then it’s time we act on the notion that that people who spend thousands of dollars a year to own and operate a car can be attracted to an attractive bus service. Getting an “attractive” bus service will require more buses, denser schedules and higher maintenance costs to keep the vehicles attractive. How do we pay for it? Simple! Raise fares and charge what it costs to provide good service on buses that don’t smell. If someone will pay five thousand dollars a year for gas, depreciation, parking, insurance and maintenance, twelve hundred bucks a year for an attractive transit option will look like good value.

In my case, when I switched to transit from my car, my cash saving was about $3,000 a year and I still own the car and use it for recreational purposes.

But what about those people who can’t afford higher fares? News flash: welfare is the welfare system’s problem. If low income or fixed income people need transit to get around, then subsidize them directly.

The insanity must end. We have to leave our transportation system free to adjust to a new role as a better way to get around Vancouver and the Lower Mainland than the automobile.