Vancouver city council backs call for homeless transit plan
Vancouver city council has unanimously supported a call for a regional plan to make the transit system accessible to homeless people.
In a vote today (July 10), councillors supported a motion from Vision Vancouver councillor Geoff Meggs to endorse the Vancouver Urban Core Community Workers’ Association’s proposal for TransLink to establish a task force on the issue, and to urge Metro Vancouver and other municipalities to endorse the creation of a plan.
Karen O’Shannacery, the executive director of Lookout Society, called a regional transit plan an important step toward ending homelessness.
“We cannot get people off the streets into shelters without transit, nor can we get people from the shelters to critical appointments such as finding housing, employment, accessing health care, or other significant needs for the majority of people who are homeless,” she told council.
Judy Graves, who recently retired as the city’s homeless advocate, said homeless people use transit “exactly the way the rest of us use public transit”.
“They use it get to funerals, they use it to visit family members in hospital, they use it to visit their own children who are in foster care, and maintain those relationships,” she told city council.
Meggs said other cities have arrangements to make transit accessible to homeless people.
“It’s an amazing gap here, given the problems we’ve had with homelessness over many, many years, and it’s an important part of the solution,” he said.
Advocates of the plan say the need for a regional homeless transit plan is growing urgent as the introduction of TransLink’s Compass Card and fare-gate system approaches later this year.
“The priority...is to make sure that there isn’t a crisis as soon as the Compass Card comes in for people who have been trying to make those single trips, either with a ticket that was given to them by a service provider or just taking the bus and hoping that it works out,” Meggs told the Straight by phone.
The motion approved by council also calls for the regional transit plan to include consideration of a reduced fare option for people on income assistance.
Meggs said the discussion around the regional transit plan serves as a reminder of some of the challenges that homeless people face.
“A lot of us who are able to take the bus as we wish lose sight of the fact that it’s a precious privilege for some people because of their lack of income,” he said. “And we’ve got to be able to extend that mobility to people as widely as possible.”
Comments
14 Comments
Natty
Jul 10, 2013 at 4:38pm
Literally, there should be no free rides. Collect cans and gather your fare, panhandle or borrow it, but no way should other bus riders, many of whom make only minimum wage themselves, be forced to subsidize others.
Ryhan
Jul 11, 2013 at 9:27am
I don not agree with this! There should be no free rides for anyone. Let that be an incentive to get off the streets. But wow - the homeless in Vancouver have it good. Housing, food, transit. Beats working at McD's!
Matt
Jul 11, 2013 at 10:24am
I'll be honest, I have a really hard time sympathizing. Why should the homeless get a free ride on the taxpayer's dime? One of the reasons I've been looking forward to Compass is because it will keep transients off the line. Have you ever commuted to work with a guy huffing spray-paint out of a paper-bag beside you? Or had a drunk with a reeking garbage-bag filled with bottles try to pick a fight with you at 7:30AM? Or had a meth-addict spill booze on you? I have experienced all of this in the past year. Obviously this isn't the norm, but experiences like this is one of the main reasons why many people avoid public transit.
Peter
Jul 11, 2013 at 2:35pm
Public transit is an essential service - of course it has to be accessible for everyone. Seniors, students and disabled get discounts. There are a small portion of people who need transit access and have NO money for food let alone bus fare. Expecting homeless people to beg for bus fare is ... hmmm ... stupid. Let's just get real and give people temporary help so that they can get on with getting their lives together ... and yes ... get on the bus. Transit is underfunded - this proposal doesn't have anything to do with this.
Michael McQuillan, Lookout Emergency Aid Society
Jul 11, 2013 at 4:31pm
Can't believe the backlash from this article in the Straight. Folks figure the general public is subsidizing the homeless so they can ride transit for free. Truth is, by not dealing with homelessness, Canadian taxpayers shell out more than $5 billion a year. The goal of the transit plan is to get more folks off the streets by making sure they get to appointments with doctors, social workers, potential employers, etc.
Alan Layton
Jul 12, 2013 at 8:50am
You'd have to be blind, or a complete idiot, to think that the vast majority of homeless people you see on the street are only there because they have no 'incentive' to work. Most are there because they are unemployable due to a multitude of mental and health problems. For the person who mentioned working at McD's I would suggest you go there and try to get a job there yourself. What sort of workers do you see in McDonald's? They are young, clean and well-adjusted. McDonald's is not going to hire someone with mental health issues and a resume that shows no recent jobs or even an address. In fact nobody is going to hire them. Obviously you haven't spent a period of time being unemployed and applying for jobs that you are perfectly suited for and not even getting an interview. It is very hard to get work right now, even at McDonald's. I say give them all of the free rides they want. Sheesh.
Nick Routley
Jul 12, 2013 at 11:17pm
Some of you people are really callous. I used to ride the #20 through East Van to commute to work, and many people (mentally ill, drunk, downtrodden, you name it) would jump on for free. I used to get annoyed, but, really, aren't these the people who need support the most?
Are we subsidising the service so a few homeless people can ride for free? Yes. But I'd rather live in a society that supports people in need than one that slams the door at every turn.
RUK
Jul 13, 2013 at 12:26pm
If it is for work or school, then heck yeah, use my tax dollars to help my neighbours. A minor kindness costs me little but could be a big break for someone who might be in a position to pass it on later on. That's the kind of place I want to live in. So yes, some bus passes, and how about a place to wash up and get a haircut?
Daniel
Jul 15, 2013 at 12:50pm
Homeless people effectively travel for free already on transit by just asking the driver 'for a ride' or jumping through the back door. A homeless transit plan would just make what already happens, official.
Steve
Jul 15, 2013 at 3:12pm
I see an opportunity. If the distribution of a bus pass could be managed through an existing social service I would be all for it. There needs to be a way to measure the success/failure of the program. Mostly, participating in society the way most people do is humanising. On the hole do I want to pay for other people's transit? No. But I believe there are professionals out there trying to tackle the really tough social issues. I will try an support these people and the better society it brings.