9623 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

8 year olds spend a lot of time in the back seats of parent's cars

8 year olds don't have to pay for transit, anywhere in the CRD, and they haven't for time immemorial if mom or dad already have a pass.

So what are they doing in the back seat of their parent's cars if they have free transit already? With the new scheme, mom or dad will have to pay $5 for that return trip, $25 per week, or $85 for a monthly pass. In other words, it’s unlikely to happen.

Edited

[Nparker]

Does taking 8-year-olds out of the back seat of their parents' cars and putting them onto buses paid by me, automatically mean the parent no longer will be driving the car? Is there a guaranteed environmental benefit to my largesse?

[Cats4Hire]

8 year olds don't have to pay for transit, anywhere in the CRD, and they haven't for time immemorial.

 

So what are they doing in the back seat of their parent's cars?

technically only when actually with their parent (or guardian older than 13) and if said guardian pays with cash or a bus ticket (unless they buy a daypass with the tickets) they need to pay as well. https://www.bctransi...s/family-travel

[Mike K.]

Yes! Thanks for that. I was editing my post just as you wrote that.

So taking junior to school for “free” now costs mum $25 a week, or $85 for the month. Junior has had free transit this whole time, but he still ended up in the back seat of mum’s car.

Over to you, Corey.

[Cats4Hire]

Yes! Thanks for that. I was editing my post just as you wrote that.

So taking junior to school for “free” now costs mum $25 a week, or $85 for the month. Junior has had free transit this whole time, but he still ended up in the back seat of mum’s car.

Over to you, Corey.

You could actually go a little cheaper. A sheet of 10 tickets (which would get you a day pass every weekday) costs $22.50 for the week. If you buy a monthly pass (I'm using July because current month despite school not being in) you pay $3.70 per day or $18.48 per week (excluding weekends so if one uses the pass on weekends it would be even cheaper).

[Mike K.]

Alright, so what's been stopping mum from taking junior to school on the bus? He's had a free ride this whole time and mum's cost will remain the same following the implementation of the free bus pass program.

[Ismo07]

Alright, so what's been stopping mum from taking junior to school on the bus? He's had a free ride this whole time and mum's cost will remain the same following the implementation of the free bus pass program.

Well if junior was free then he/she could go to school alone.  Right now for whatever reason junior is not free alone.

[Mike K.]

Right, but junior is eight years old, remember. He’s 4’ tall and in grade 2.

[Nparker]

Are there a large number of children in the core of the CRD who are unable to walk to school?

[Mike K.]

Another point is I don’t think BC Transit wants small children to ride alone, which is why they give guardians a break on bus fare for the kid, but only when with a guardian.

[Ismo07]

Right, but junior is eight years old, remember. He’s 4’ tall and in grade 2.

 

I was 8 years old for a time in grade 3 so... You are forgetting about 9, 10 , 11 and 12 years olds too...

 

Are there a large number of children in the core of the CRD who are unable to walk to school?

 

No not likely so why not let them on the bus when they want?  What's the harm?  I don't think more busses will be needed.

 

Another point is I don’t think BC Transit wants small children to ride alone, which is why they give guardians a break on bus fare for the kid, but only when with a guardian.

 

You think they don't?  Might seem weird at first but again taking the bus when you are comfy can happen at a young age.  Kids could use the adventure.

[Nparker]

Are there a large number of children in the core of the CRD who are unable to walk to school?

...No not likely so why not let them on the bus when they want?  What's the harm?...

The obvious harm is to my wallet by supplying "free" bus passes - a great number of which will likely never even be used.

[Cats4Hire]

Are there a large number of children in the core of the CRD who are unable to walk to school?

Some areas in Saanich you actually have to go quite far to get to the nearest school. Kids who live around Rogers for example go to Cedar Hill for middle school which is almost an hour walk from Rogers. They have a bus basically just for that (17) which would take 11-14 year olds which I was definitely bussing without a parent at that point and would be covered in the proposed "free" for under 19.

[Victoria Watcher]

You think they don't?  Might seem weird at first but again taking the bus when you are comfy can happen at a young age.  Kids could use the adventure.

 

except the government disagrees.

 

After a weeks-long investigation, the ministry concluded that children under the age of 10 cannot be left unsupervised — whether on a bus, riding bikes around the neighbourhood or walking to the corner store, he said.

 

 

 

 

A Vancouver father says a “hugely disappointing” decision by social workers to stop his kids from riding the bus to school alone is robbing them of their independence.

 

Adrian Crook says he spent two years training his four eldest children, ages seven to 11, to take the 45-minute public transit trip. The case is sparking debate about whether expectations about parental supervision have gone too far.

 

“Your job as a parent is to raise your kids to not need you eventually,” said Crook, who has five children.

 

“You don’t want to rush them through that process, as much for them as it is heartbreaking for you. But if they’re comfortable taking on certain risks, it’s sort of incumbent upon you to gauge whether they’re ready.”

 

He said the 13-kilometre trip begins with a bus stop visible from his downtown condominium and ends with a stop directly in front of their North Vancouver school, and the children always travel with a cellphone that allows him to track their location.

 

Crook said his heart sank when the Children’s Ministry called saying a tip had been received about the kids taking transit alone and that an investigation would follow.

 

“It was pretty shocking,” he said. “I just kind of hoped that they would see the bigger picture.”

 

He said he wanted his kids to take the bus because it’s safer and more sustainable than driving and, crucially, it teaches them independence. A distant reason was to save money by using public transit, he said.

 

 

https://www.thestar....nal-debate.html

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 July 2019 - 01:36 PM.

[Ismo07]

The obvious harm is to my wallet by supplying "free" bus passes - a great number of which will likely never even be used.

What is the harm to your wallet if we just let them on?  Some fewer fares would get paid I suppose but not enough to really feel it. In the long run there may be more benefit as kids get used to riding the bus more.

 

except the government disagrees.

 

 

 

I see on these forums that people disagree with the government all the time.  Now we are saying they are right?

[Mike K.]

The harm to the taxpayer's wallet is an $850,000 municipal expense that wasn't there last year.

[Nparker]

What is the harm to your wallet if we just let them on?...

You are aware of the proposal to supply ALL residents of the region 18 years of age and under with "free" bus passes right? Even if only a small number of these passes get used, something tells me BC Transit will want this cost of all of them covered by someone.

[Nparker]

I swear I didn't write this letter to the Times Colonist, but it's nice to see I am not the only one who questions the concept of "free" transit.

...So, another municipal politician — this time in Saanich — has come to the conclusion that there is such a thing as “free” transit. Fortunately, an adult in the room mentioned that this “free” benefit would be paid for out of property taxes — not exactly “free” in the real world. Furthermore, Coun. Nathalie Chambers suggested that this move will help take 50 per cent of cars off the road. Saanich is a large district that is dependent on vehicle traffic for a lot of everyday stuff. I think 50 per cent is a number that even Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps would shy away from...

https://www.timescol...-tax-1.23886331

You gotta love the dig at Lisa Helps as well. 

[Mike K.]

Again with the cars off the road thing.

 

Transit is already free for children 12 and under whose parents take them to school via transit. Handing these children a bus pass will not absolve their parents of the responsibility of taking them to school via transit.

 

The system of free fares for kids is already in play and uptake is abysmally low.

[Nparker]

Again with the cars off the road thing...

Unless most of the under-19s (the majority of whom are under 16) are currently driving cars of their own, "free" youth transit passes will have a negligible effect on the number of vehicles on the road.