Further cuts to transit service in Maple Ridge were announced this week, and it has the mayor calling foul and asking residents to help lobby for emergency federal money.
On Monday, TransLink announce further service reductions, including some dramatic cuts to bus and West Coast Express (WCE) service in Maple Ridge.
The rapid bus, for instance, will be suspended as of Friday, and fewer train cars will run on the remaining morning and afternoon WCE trains in and out of Vancouver starting next Monday, April 27.
RELATED: Further TransLink reductions for riders in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows
The reductions impacting local riders don’t end there, he said. In early May, an additional 47 routes will be suspended across the region – including several in his community.
Local suspensions will mean no more bus service to Silver Valley’s Rock Ridge and Anderson Creek neighbourhoods or Port Hammond. It also means cuts to buses serving Whonnock, and Albion along McClure Drive and Jackson Road. Service will alsos be eliminated north of Dewdney Trunk Road (between Laity and 224th Streets), and out east in Ruskin (via Dewdney).
And, in recognition of the limitations on bus seating due to physical distancing, TransLink went as far as to ask customers to travel on transit only as necessary, to preserve space for essential service workers. TransLink says the suspensions are temporary, with hopes that “near-regular service” can be restored by September.
While Morden said he understands the need for service cuts, given an 83-per-cent drop in ridership due to COVID and projected monthly losses of $75 million, he fears the direct impacts on Maple Ridge will have long-lasting ramifications.
MORE DETAIL: TransLink to lay off nearly 1,500 workers, cut service further as ridership down 83%
“The routes being suspended represent years of lobbying by successive councils to expand service into our suburban communities,” Morden said.
“We realize there was no choice but to implement cuts to an essential service given no forthcoming relief package and the imminent insolvency at TransLink,” he went on to say. But, Morden feels the federal government should be stepping in to help instead.
“The magnitude of the cuts announced will see the complete loss of service for growing neighbourhoods. We will monitor the impacts to essential workers and citizens living in these communities who don’t have alternate means of transportation, and will be strong advocates for the restoration of these routes as we move through the recovery phase of the pandemic,” he said, putting out a call for the pubilc help.
During next Tuesday’s council workshop, he will be asking fellow councillors to support a request for federal funding to stabilize public transportation until the end of the COVID-19 response. He’ll ask council to support an existing request going forward from the Canadian Urban Transit Association.
“I strongly encourage those who will be impacted by the reduction in service to take a moment and reach out to their provincial and federal representatives to amplify this request through emails and phone calls,” Morden said.
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