5619 replies to this topic

[Bingo]

I wonder where the city gets the notion that kids want to hang around downtown Victoria.

Perhaps the kids would use the bus pass to avoid downtown and go to a movie at Silver City.

Then you would have even more folks with cars avoiding downtown because of the Sunday parking fees.

 

“If a parent needs to buy a bus pass for a kid it costs $45 per month, if we opted in every kid in Victoria it would cost $11 per month,” Helps said.

“We can’t force parents to pay $11 so we’re looking at a creative way for the city to fund transit passes.” 

With approximately 6,000 youth 18 and under in Victoria, the yearly total would hit around $800,000 per year. 

Helps said one way the City could finance these costs would be by instating parking fees on Sundays.

 https://www.vicnews....transit-passes/

 

[rjag]

“We can’t force parents to pay $11 so we’re looking at a creative way for the city to fund transit passes.” 

 

 

But she can force a parent to pay for parking if they bring their kids downtown on a Sunday...

[Nparker]

I have never felt so good about my electoral choices as I do about not voting for anyone on the current CoV council. My conscience is 100% clear.

[Mike K.]

It is interesting, though, how Helps' mayoral campaign this time around put such a major focus on children.

 

It's a stark contrast to the mayor's comments regarding a tent city at Topaz, where she said: "'Oh no, my child might see a homeless person. Oh no, my child might see someone with a mental illness.’ I think that’s good. I think that’s OK.’’

 

This 'free' bus pass program will also have an administrative component that will require oversight and supervision, unless that's offloaded onto the schools.

[Bingo]

But she can force a parent to pay for parking if they bring their kids downtown on a Sunday...

 

Yes and I think the bus passes are intended for teenagers, not children who still want to hang out with their parents and need to be driven everywhere.

Those children can have a somewhat short attention span for being dragged around downtown.

[rjag]

Yes and I think the bus passes are intended for teenagers, not children who still want to hang out with their parents and need to be driven everywhere.

Those children can have a somewhat short attention span for being dragged around downtown.

 

Isnt this the slow creep of introducing the welfare state? 

[Mike K.]

But hold on now.

 

If 6,000 kids can force a drop in bus pass costs to $11 from $45, why not expand the entire program to include all residents and drop the regional bus pass fees to $3 per person, per month, region-wide? That way we all have a bus pass and its paid for through property taxes, it covers BCT's $130 million annual budget and the folks that do rely on transit are not paying $85 or whatever per month ($45 for kids).

[Cats4Hire]

But hold on now.

If 6,000 kids can force a drop in bus pass costs to $11 from $45, why not expand the entire program to include all residents and drop the regional bus pass fees to $3 per person, per month, region-wide? That way we all have a bus pass and its paid for through property taxes, it covers BCT's $130 million annual budget and the folks that do rely on transit are not paying $85 or whatever per month ($45 for kids).

And you just know as soon as this is introduced every interest group will come out "why don't we get a cheaper pass!"

[lanforod]

But hold on now.

 

If 6,000 kids can force a drop in bus pass costs to $11 from $45, why not expand the entire program to include all residents and drop the regional bus pass fees to $3 per person, per month, region-wide? That way we all have a bus pass and its paid for through property taxes, it covers BCT's $130 million annual budget and the folks that do rely on transit are not paying $85 or whatever per month ($45 for kids).

Heck no. I'm not into paying $180 bucks a year for something we won't use.

[vortoozo]

Heck no. I'm not into paying $180 bucks a year for something we won't use.

 

You may not use it, but surely it benefits you.

If everyone that gets on the bus drove their car instead, you would be sitting in traffic for a lot longer...

[tedward]

But hold on now.

 

If 6,000 kids can force a drop in bus pass costs to $11 from $45, why not expand the entire program to include all residents and drop the regional bus pass fees to $3 per person, per month, region-wide? That way we all have a bus pass and its paid for through property taxes, it covers BCT's $130 million annual budget and the folks that do rely on transit are not paying $85 or whatever per month ($45 for kids).

 

Make transit a public utility with no charge to get on a bus? Heck yeah!
 

[rjag]

You may not use it, but surely it benefits you.

If everyone that gets on the bus drove their car instead, you would be sitting in traffic for a lot longer...

 

Dont know if would make much difference, look at UVic and Camosun, they all have mandatory bus passes and the parking lots are full anyway. Theres simply not enough capacity to accommodate more riders except maybe on weekends. 

 

I think it would be a great idea but it shouldn't be driven from CoV but from SD61, 62 & 63 in partnership with the CRD and BC Transit and include access to rec centres. What she is proposing is minimal and will have little impact apart from being a feather in her cap... 

[rjag]

Make transit a public utility with no charge to get on a bus? Heck yeah!
 

 

And how is that funded? If folks in Sooke or Sidney cant get equal access to transit then is their share of the costs pro-rated? And what about non-residents?

 

Heres an idea, give everyone a bus pass, have it generate a user fee like on your water bill and you pay every quarter, the less you use the less you pay!    

[Nparker]

Make transit a public utility with no charge to get on a bus...

And have it administered through BC Hydro. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!

[Brantastic]

Dont know if would make much difference, look at UVic and Camosun, they all have mandatory bus passes and the parking lots are full anyway. Theres simply not enough capacity to accommodate more riders except maybe on weekends. 

Yeah, but I could not imagine the traffic chaos that would ensue if we didn't have free bus passes. Basically everyone I know at UVic (including myself) gets there by bus simply because it's free even though most of my friends have cars. The parking lots may be full but keep in mind UVic has over 20,000 students and around 5,000 staff. I'm pretty sure those full parking lots represent a small fraction of the UVic populace. Free bus passes for students seems to be working to me. 

[jonny]

Make transit a public utility with no charge to get on a bus? Heck yeah!
 

 

Public utilities are not free. (water, sewage, electricity)

[Nparker]

Yeah, but I could not imagine the traffic chaos that would ensue if we didn't have free bus passes....

When I went to UVic there were no free bus passes. 

[rjag]

Yeah, but I could not imagine the traffic chaos that would ensue if we didn't have free bus passes. Basically everyone I know at UVic (including myself) gets there by bus simply because it's free even though most of my friends have cars. The parking lots may be full but keep in mind UVic has over 20,000 students and around 5,000 staff. I'm pretty sure those full parking lots represent a small fraction of the UVic populace. Free bus passes for students seems to be working to me.

Those passes aren’t free. You and every other student pay for them as part of a mandatory program.

[sdwright.vic]

I love this free and lose usage of the word "free" on here.

Unfortunately, free is not free- ever.

[Mattjvd]

When I went to UVic there were no free bus passes. 

It's not free, it's about $80 to $90 per semester.