No ticket to ride

A five day bus fare strike in Vancouver yesterday, organized by the Bus Riders Union.

This page met up with BRU activists on the #20 (Victoria) yesterday. While Translink dismisses the protest, these troublemakers in orange T-shirts are getting their point across, regardless of whether or not particular individuals agree to withhold their fares. For those of you scoring at home, this page has an employer transit pass, so not showing it to the driver is more of a show of solidarity than actually participating in the strike. Except for one cantankerous crank who harped that "nothing comes for free*", everyone else on board the jam-packed trolley cruising along Hastings warmed up visibly to BRU's message.

Translink claims that Greater Vancouver's extortive transit fares can't be differentiated: the marginalized and underprivileged have to pay the same as "an executive who takes the B-Line to downtown Vancouver every day". If transit was properly funded out of the tax base like it should be, Vancouverites could be riding a transit system like the one in Boulder, Colorado, instead of trying to cope with longer waits for overcrowded buses.

*Unless you're involved with the P3s for the RAV Line or twinning the Port Mann bridge, then a lot of free stuff comes your way.