Change Translink policy to make transit a viable transportation alternative for school field trips

1.Since the mid-day travel discount was removed several years ago, the cost of using transit to visit field trip sites outside of a single fare zone has become prohibitive. Without the mid-day travel discount, the cost per student jumped from $3 ($2.50 using FareSavers) to $6 per student. Transit costs are now more than the cost of many field trip programs.

2. Community educators in field trip sites report that transportation costs are a huge barrier for groups traveling further across the region. This means that these sites are not drawing as many school groups from further a field – whether that’s getting students from Coquitlam to the Museum of Anthropology or students from Vancouver to a Surrey Honeybee Centre - reducing the number of programs that these sites offer and ultimately limiting the development of new programs for school groups.

3. The overall effect of the increased cost of transit is that it is now more economical to charter a private coach than to use transit. We would suggest that this has also had a negative impact on Translink, as less school trips results in less school generated revenue. Further, we know that people’s attitudes are shaped early and if we hope to see an increase in transit use over the long term, we need to start training that habit now.

4. Lastly, with the general and rising concern over the environment, we should be encouraging the use of transit as part of living together in a socially responsible community.