Delta council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday (July 30) to discuss TransLink’s warning of potentially severe system-wide transit service cuts to balance the books.
Mayor George Harvie confirmed to the Optimist a meeting will be held at municipal hall in the Annacis room at 5 p.m., following Coun. Dylan Kruger calling for an urgent session.
The meeting is open to the public.
A recent report for the TransLink Mayor’s Council outlined a series of potential massive cuts to make up for a big ongoing shortfall, unless senior government funding materializes.
Harvie said at that meeting last Thursday (July 25), he spoke about the drastic impacts to the City of Delta should sustainable federal and provincial not be received. He also said that he would be presenting a report on the drastic cuts to TransLink services in Delta at the next meeting of council in September.
Harvie also said the Mayors’ Council cannot advocate on its own and needs all Metro Vancouver city councils to participate to bring awareness on the impacts to businesses, commuters as well as the community at large.
According to Kruger, if the cuts proceed, Delta will lose almost every one of its major bus routes, including the 310, 314, 391, 601, 602, 603, 604, 606, 614, 618, and 640.
“This is an existential crisis for Delta and our entire region,” said Kruger. “If these cuts are allowed to proceed, the impact on the daily lives of tens of thousands of residents will be devastating. Council must act urgently to demand better solutions from senior government.”
Urging Delta residents to voice their concerns, Kruger said the cuts would disproportionately impact suburban municipalities like Delta.
In a news release last week, TransLink noted that it is facing a funding gap of approximately $600 million each year, a shortfall in the budget to operate current transit service levels throughout the region.
TransLink recently announced $90 million in corporate cost-efficiency and revenue measures to help reduce the funding gap, however, that is nowhere near enough.
“These cuts would be devastating to the region, and we’re doing everything we can to stop them from happening,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn. “Unfortunately, this is a window into our reality if a solution to our outdated funding model is not implemented. We need all levels of government to come together to protect and expand transit service to meet the needs of Metro Vancouver’s growing population.”
