Shift Beyond the Car

Promote healthy, active living by paving the way for people to cycle, walk and bus anywhere they want to go.

Shift Beyond the Car
Contents

Table of Contents

The Rationale

Why this, why now?

In 2021, vehicle transportation was responsible for around 7.2% of Alberta’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and accounted for roughly a third of the average Canadian’s emissions. To reduce transportation emissions, many municipalities in Alberta and other jurisdictions around the world are making it easier for people to choose active transportation and public transit.

Replacing one car trip with a bike ride or public transportation can result in emissions reductions of 67% and 19%, respectively.  These modes of transportation also support community health and well-being. For instance, active and public transportation reduces the risk of chronic health conditions related to inactivity, which is estimated to cost Canadians $6.8 million per year. Pedestrian and bicycling projects also contribute to the local economy, providing 46% more jobs than road-only projects.

Vision: What does success look like? 

Alberta’s municipalities have comprehensive zero-emission transportation networks that seamlessly connect communities and regions. All transportation infrastructure is designed with climate projections and equity criteria, prioritizing safety, accessibility, and resilience in a changing climate. Residents have access to widespread EV charging infrastructure and a variety of safe, convenient, and affordable active transportation and public transit options, promoting healthier and more sustainable lifestyles.

The Reality

Where are we today?

Federal and Provincial governments oversee long-distance transportation and intra-provincial infrastructure. Municipalities hold exclusive jurisdiction over infrastructure for walking, cycling, and other forms of active transportation, including their ownership, operation, and planning. Municipalities can support active and public transportation through policy in plans such as Municipal Development Plans, Transportation Master Plans, and Active Transportation Plans.

Municipal planning documents can also set the direction for equitable and resilient transportation infrastructure. The 2023 report, The Municipal Role in Transportation, describes how “Local governments are also best positioned to protect or advocate for the most vulnerable residents of cities. They can do this by adopting measures to counter the adverse effects of gentrification and by ensuring that citizens who depend on public transit and active transportation have equitable access to it.” The report, created by the Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance and the Urban Policy Lab, outlines potential short and long-term actions that would support equitable and resilient transportation systems such as: “Prioritizing complete street interventions and active transportation investments in the most vulnerable neighbourhoods; acquiring land near stations or along transit corridors for social housing; and offering social rates for public transit.”

Federal Legislation, Programs, and Funding

The National Active Transportation Strategy and the Government of Canada’s Transportation 2030 Plan aim to promote lower-emitting modes of transportation and invest in infrastructure. This includes exploring ways to combine investments in public transit infrastructure with housing and urban form improvements. The federal government is:

  • Committing over $10 million of the Active Transportation Fund toward planning and design activities, as well as education, outreach, and engagement.
  • Working with all orders of government, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders to ensure there is alignment on policy, planning, design standards and regulations.
  • Working with Statistics Canada to collect disaggregated data that will ensure the adequate and appropriate monitoring and reporting of the prevalence, potential and safety of AT in Canada, not just in large municipalities but in smaller, rural and remote communities, and Indigenous communities. This will yield better data on the mobility habits and needs of Canadians.
  • Implementing the nation’s first Active Transportation Fund.
  • Supporting place-based projects which are initiated in the non-profit sector, where organizations from coast-to-coast-to-coast are improving the state of active transportation in their communities.
  • Emphasizing connected communities, strong first-and-last-mile connections, and social equity in the Active Transportation Fund, which has set-aside 10% of the total funding envelope for active transportation infrastructure in Indigenous communities.
  • Coordinating active transportation investments across government programs and investing in active transportation projects through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan, Active Transportation Fund, Permanent Public Transit Program, Canada Community-Building Fund (formerly the Gas Tax Fund), Canada Healthy Communities Initiative and Green Municipal Fund, Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, and Natural Infrastructure Fund.

The federal funding for active transportation and transit is distributed between three funds: 

  • Rural Transit Solutions Fund: $250 million towards rural and remote communities to develop transit solutions depending on the best fit, such as fixed routes, on-demand, or ride-shares. 
  • Zero Emissions Transit Fund: $2.75 billion for the electrification and infrastructure for electric buses.
  • Active Transportation Fund: $400 million over five years towards active transportation planning and infrastructure, such as bike lanes and pedestrian bridges. Municipal governments, local and regional governments (such as service districts and Indigenous organizations) are eligible recipients for the Fund.

Provincial Legislation, Programs, and Funding

There is limited policy and support for active transportation at the Provincial level as direct policy action is mainly a municipally governed issue. However, the Government of Alberta is supporting and endorsing active transportation projects with federal funding, specifically through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). Under the ICIP, Alberta will receive $3.66 billion for public transit from 2018 through 2028. This federal funding is supported by partner ministries in the Government of Alberta. As of May 2022, the funding is fully allocated to 88 projects spanning over 30 constituencies. The projects will contribute to development in Alberta communities through one of the four streams: Green Infrastructure; Community, Culture, and Recreation; Rural and Northern Communities; and Public Transit. Approved transportation projects include a transit fleet enhancement in Cold Lake, smart fare and smart bus in Fort Saskatchewan, a pedestrian and cyclist bridge in Banff, and the development of the West Side Active Transportation Plan in Peace River.

The Response

What needs to happen?

It is essential to have relevant data before embarking on the local actions below. This data is a starting point for decision making and will help inform the actions that are relevant to your community. We recommend acquiring the following data independently or with a consultant for a deeper look:

  • Emissions Data: Use the Climate Action Explorer to understand emissions sources by sector and type and explore how the Big Moves can reduce emissions. 
  • Climate Data: Use tools like Climate Data to identify historical data and future climate projections for decision making. Go further and identify the risks and vulnerabilities of future climate projections on your community.
  • Socio-Economic and Demographic Data: Understand how your community interacts with the Big Move to make equitable decisions and optimize co-benefits. Identify opportunities to engage with the community early on and often.

We recommend that municipalities work towards an Active Transportation Plan. It is critical for municipalities to understand the state of existing infrastructure to identify where new bike and pedestrian facilities are needed. From there, a plan will help guide investment in the short and long term, and outline the strategies and actions that need to be implemented.

REFERENCE

The Local Actions

The following local actions have been identified in response to the information above, as well as best practice research, current available data related to waste in Alberta, and criteria such as how the actions reduce emissions and risk, support equity, their feasibility, and cost. These local actions may be designed and/or implemented on their own, or in combination with other community strategies and programs and are recommended for local governments to more toward low carbon resilience as efficiently as possible.

Local Action #1: Integrate active transportation with public transit and reduce barriers to use

Getting people to and from transit without using single-occupancy vehicles is referred to as the “first and last mile” problem. Improving active transportation routes around transit facilities makes it easier for people to walk or bike to transit stops. This was validated in a 2015 survey conducted by the Centre for Active Transportation, that found that 61% of transit users would consider riding their bikes to transit if infrastructure improved. This represents a huge opportunity to both grow ridership and improve conditions for existing transit users. The following interventions can be customized where necessary for the community’s context and reflect best practice research to foster connected networks of active transportation and public transit in Alberta.

Undertake a System-Wide Analysis: Determine areas for integrating active and public transit. This can further extend equitable access to transit by identifying where low-income people and those who don’t have a personal vehicle may use transit. In addition, identify areas where potential climate impacts such as flooding or extreme heat could impact users.

Conduct Outreach: Engage with riders and transit agency staff to identify barriers and possible improvements to transportation networks. Engagement can also help identify strategies to reduce conflict between pedestrians, cyclists, and buses.

Implement Fare Incentives: Offer discounts, subsidies, and/or loyalty programs to encourage and enable public transit use.

Incentivize Active Transportation: Offer density bonuses or fast-tracking permitting, or tax incentives for developers that include secure bike storage and/or e-bike charging.

Review Existing Policies/Bylaws: Identify opportunities to support active transportation and micro-mobility. For instance, update guidelines and standards for new developments to incorporate active transportation facilities within development sites and ensure that active transportation networks are considered within all new developments.

Develop Specific Plans: Plans that propose sites for improvement and concrete measures accompanied by detailed timelines and cost estimates can support the integration of active and public transportation. Examples from the 2018 District of Saanich Active Transportation Plan include:

  • Prioritizing the installation of sidewalks and crossings along designated bus routes.
  • Installing secure bike parking at high activity bus stops and transit exchanges.
  • Implementing bike-sharing programs and designated bike lanes that connect transit stops to key destinations.
  • Ensuring the design of bike facilities considers the location of and access to bus stops.
  • Evaluating active transportation infrastructure in collaboration with transit to consider their needs in the process.
  • Focusing active transportation improvements along priority corridors to minimize stop-and-start riding. For instance, identifying opportunities to support continuous movement via the use of calibrated sensors that prioritize cyclists and pedestrians (e.g., in heavy rain or heat events, during certain times of day, or when a certain amount of people or bikes are on the path).
  • Including design guidelines in active transportation planning that encourage storefronts to face onto sidewalks and provide bike racks to spur visits to local business.
  • Encouraging development around transit hubs for mixed-use walkable communities.
  • Ensuring that zoning regulations support transit initiatives.

Act Systematically: Improve active transportation and public transit simultaneously. When reconfiguring streets, include active transportation infrastructure in new transit projects at every opportunity during their major construction.

Regional Partnerships: Form partnerships and assign clear roles. Transit agencies and municipalities have clear jurisdictional boundaries so forming partnerships is mutually beneficial by helping develop better conditions around transit facilities, especially in small and medium-sized communities.

LOCAL ACTION #1
Downtown Cycle Tracks Network

After an initial pilot project, the City of Calgary installed a permanent network of bike lanes protected by a physical barrier in the City Centre. Many Calgarians have given the new bike lanes a try and with over 17,100 bicycle trips in and out of the downtown core per day, The City has seen a 40% increase in Calgarians arriving by bicycle since the cycle tracks were installed.

Bikes and E-Scooters on Public Transit

Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) gives cyclists the option of putting their bicycles on the rack on the front of the bus or taking their bicycles or E-Scooters on light rail trains (LRT). ETS also has bicycle parking at several of its transit centers and LRT stations, along with bicycle storage lockers at two LRT stations.

Funding for Low-income Transit Passes

Low-income transit passes make public transportation more affordable for individuals and families with limited financial resources. In February 2023, the Government of Alberta provided Calgary and Edmonton each with $4.5 million in funding to provide their low-income transit pass programs through 2022-23. An additional $6 million in funding was used to support low-income transit pass programs for municipalities across the province; Airdrie, Banff, Canmore, Cochrane, Cold Lake, Fort Saskatchewan, Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, St. Albert, and Strathcona County.

Rural Transportation Pilot Program (2018)

In September 2023, six pilot projects received funding through the Rural Transportation Pilot Program to provide more transportation options for people in rural Alberta. The projects, two in each of the Camrose and Grande Prairie regions, one along Highway 3 between Medicine Hat and Lethbridge and one in Red Deer County, will run over two years to lay the foundation for potential future rural public transportation services in regions across Alberta.

Local Action #2: Embed climate adaptation data into safe and accessible active transportation and public transit facilities

Municipalities can enhance the resilience of public transit and active transportation by analyzing current transportation patterns and behaviors to understand more about how people are moving around the city and integrating these considerations with climate adaptation data. They can also evaluate existing infrastructure, including road networks, public transit systems, and pedestrian facilities to identify areas for improvement to support low-emission transportation options. Finally, they can analyze public transit ridership and accessibility, using demographic data to make equitable and inclusive transportation planning decisions, ensuring that transportation options are accessible and affordable for all residents. The following interventions can be customized where necessary for the community’s context and reflect best practice research about how climate data can support safe and resilient active transportation and public transit in Alberta.

Adaptive Traffic Management Systems: Implement adaptive traffic signal systems (e.g., rain sensors that respond to changing weather conditions or traffic pattern sensors that coordinate lights to favour cyclists and pedestrians) that use real-time data to adjust traffic signal timings during extreme weather events or at specific times of day.

Data Integration and Mapping: Create interactive maps for the public that highlight climate-vulnerable areas, potential risks, and adaptation measures along key routes. Use Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to visualize and analyze climate data in conjunction with active transportation and transit infrastructure.

Public Awareness and Education: Educate the public about climate-related risks and the importance of climate-resilient transportation infrastructure. Provide information on alternative transportation options during extreme weather events or disruptions.

Development Incentives: Offer density bonuses or fast-track permitting, for developers that include amenities like secure bike storage and/or e-bike charging.

Climate-Responsive Design Guidelines: Adopt design guidelines that incorporate climate-resilient features for active transportation and transit facilities, like climate-appropriate materials, shading elements, and landscaping to enhance resilience.

  • Address flood risks by avoiding implementing cycling routes in flood-prone areas, ensuring flood-proof electrical infrastructure for bike share and e-bike charging stations, and using high water signs to alert pedestrians and cyclists about unsafe zones.
  • Combat extreme heat by increasing greenery in pedestrianized areas and cycling lanes, installing drinking fountains near bike lanes and bike share and e-bike charging stations, and designing routes through parks for shade and cooling benefits.
  • Minimize drought related impacts by monitoring soil conditions for erosion and increasing maintenance of pedestrianized areas and cycling routes.
  • Support cold weather cyclists by providing winter bicycle training, designing covered shelters for bike share/parking, and prioritizing snow removal on high-traffic bike lanes.

Incorporate Green Infrastructure: Integrate green infrastructure elements such as permeable pavements, rain gardens, and bioswales to manage stormwater and reduce flood risks on sidewalks and bike lanes. Plant climate-resilient vegetation to enhance shade and mitigate heat island effects.

This stretch of trees can reduce both the surface and air temperatures. Photo credit: City of Melbourne.

Emergency Preparedness and Evacuation Routes: Identify and establish climate-resilient evacuation routes for extreme weather events. Ensure that active transportation routes can be used for safe evacuation and provide signage with evacuation information.

Climate-Responsive Maintenance Practices: Require maintenance practices that consider climate impacts, such as regular inspections for vulnerable areas and prompt repairs after extreme weather events. Establish protocols for quick response and repair to minimize disruptions to active transportation and transit services.

Partnerships and Collaboration: Collaborate with meteorological agencies, climate scientists, and local experts to access the latest climate data and projections. Work with community organizations to gather local knowledge on active and public transportation and adaptation needs.

LOCAL ACTION #2
Shade Guidelines

The Shade Guidelines were created by the Shade Policy Committee of the Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition in partnership with Parks, Forestry and Recreation and with the backing of Toronto Public Health. The Guidelines offer recommendations and principles for increasing shade at City-operated facilities. These facilities are mostly used during summer when direct UVR levels are high, and when users typically wear minimal clothing.

The City of Toronto, through its Official Plan and other policies and action plans like the Toronto Green Standard (TGS) and Climate Change agenda, supports and complements the Shade Policy. The co-benefits of shade provision include reducing pollution, mitigating the urban heat island and climate change, as well as increasing physical activity, especially at a time when obesity rates have become a public health concern. This adds further motivation for municipalities to address shade more actively.

Branching Out Program

Calgary’s tree canopy coverage is currently at 8.25%, including trees planted on both public and private property. To expand and grow canopy coverage to 16%, the city has developed the Branching Out Program. In 2023, the program gave away 2000 trees to residential homes within the city limits, free of charge to support canopy growth. Online educational resources are provided to support the longevity of the trees.

Local Action #3: Incentivize and reduce barriers to e-mobility.

Electric mobility or “e-mobility” includes all street-legal vehicles that are powered by an electric motor and primarily source their energy from an onboard battery charged from the grid. “E-mobility on demand” is an emerging transportation option in many cities and is increasingly an option in smaller communities. Examples include electric scooters and bikes available for rent through a smartphone app. The following interventions can be customized where necessary for the community’s context and reflect best-practice research about how to support e-mobility in Alberta.

Pilot Programs: Involve the community in pilot programs and solicit feedback to address concerns and improve the effectiveness of e-bike and scooter initiatives. Collaborate with community organizations to identify when and where on-demand service will be most useful. Ensure pilot programs are supported and the duration of the program gives enough time to allow residents to participate.

  • E-bikes and other e-mobility options are appealing to a wide variety of users. Ensure that programs are relevant for All Ages and Abilities.

Education and Safety Campaigns: Launch public awareness campaigns to educate all road users about the benefits and safety practices of e-bikes and scooters. Integrate safety information into community outreach programs.

E-mobility Rebates: Provide tiered incentives linked to household income and size to mitigate the initial affordability challenges of purchasing an e-bike. E-bikes, which cost about 1/10th of an EV, are a viable option for many residents especially considering they have no fuel costs and significantly lower maintenance costs.

Private Business Incentives: Provide incentives for private businesses to install e-bike charging stations, possibly through tax breaks or subsidies.

Streamlined Permitting: Streamline the permitting process for e-bike and e-scooter sharing services to encourage private sector participation.

Supportive Regulations: Establish clear and supportive regulations for e-bikes and e-scooters, including guidelines for safe operation, parking, and speed limits.

Land Use Policy: Update land use policies as necessary to accommodate e-bike and e-scooter transportation and charging.

Data Sharing and Analysis: Work with e-mobility companies to share data on usage patterns to help optimize infrastructure planning and traffic management. This data can also be used to help identify where future on-demand services would be useful.

LOCAL ACTION #3
E-Bike Rebate

When funds are available, the Town of Banff offers a rebate of up to $750 on electric pedal assist bicycles with a purchase price of under $5,000.  A higher rebate is offered to Banff Access Program members (Tier 1 = up to $1000, Tier 2 = up to $900). The program originally funded $40,000 worth of rebates in 2022, which was fully used up within two weeks of the program going live. That translates to 60 e-Bikes purchased.  Rebates are also highly relevant to the local context. The Town offers rebates for e-bikes, studded tires for bikes, and snow/ice walking aids like crampons to enable year-round active transportation.

Shared E-Scooter Program

In 2021, the Town of Okotoks undertook an e-scooter pilot program targeted at all residents of the community. The study consulted 277-members of the public to gauge their interest and feedback about the program; following this stage, a fleet of 75 e scooters were made publicly available between June-December 2021, resulting in 3,203 riders making 15,766 trips. The aim of the study directly aligned with the Town’s goals as set out in its Environmental Master Plan, namely, to integrate various modes of transportation into our urban fabric, including active transportation and public transit. The success of the pilot program resulted in e-scooters being rolled out in 2022 and 2023, continuing the Town’s modal shift towards micro mobility. Public engagement was key to the successful rollout of the program, through direct contact with local stakeholders to guide the overall vision.

E-Scooter Pilot

The City of Airdrie introduced an e-scooter pilot program, focusing on the various health and lifestyle benefits that arise from micro mobility. The city uses micro mobility as a tool to complete first and last kilometer trips, in conjunction with other forms of transportation such as walking, cycling, and public transit. The ongoing pilot began in June 2022 and is due to finish in October 2023. In the first year alone, 39,403 trips were made by 7,765 individuals. Crucial to the program is the City’s education and awareness campaign, targeting those who may be on the fence about engaging in micro mobility due to safety concerns, skepticism, or lack of knowledge. Sustained education and awareness are fundamental in creating inclusive sustainable micro mobility systems, where all residents have equal opportunities to participate.

E-Scooter Pilot

Red Deer introduced a two-year electric scooter pilot project in the summer of 2021. The program has no cap on the number of e-scooter companies that can apply or the number of e-scooters that each company can supply. Five companies participated in the program: Bird Canada, Neuron Mobility, Roll Scooters, Spin, and Link Scooters, supporting over 36,000 riders in the 2021 season. Riders can use the service beginning in Spring and ending late October.

Local Action #4: Improve transit safety, accessibility, frequency, reliability, and coverage.

In Alberta, transit is a municipal responsibility. Municipalities need to identify their transportation priorities, develop transit policies and plans, and operate and maintain their own transit services. In small and medium-sized cities specifically, lack of service and affordability are key barriers to transit. These barriers can impact an individual’s ability to access critical services like healthcare and limit education and employment options. The following interventions can be customized where necessary for the community’s context and reflect best-practice research about how to support transit uptake in Alberta. 

Advocate for Flexible Delivery Approaches: In smaller communities, lower demand may mean that fixed routes and standard 12-meter buses are neither effective nor efficient. More flexible, demand-responsive services including dial-a-ride (e.g., Medicine Hat Transit) and partnerships with taxi companies can fill in the gaps and provide service during off-peak hours. These are also option to serve low-density or rural areas. In Rimouski, Quebec the entire public transit service (known as Taxibus) is delivered using taxis.

Improve and Maintain Amenities: Provide and enhance public transit amenities especially along less frequent routes to ensure accessibility and comfort for commuters. This should include wheelchair access and secure bike storage, and can include offering Wi-Fi, real-time schedule apps, or solar-powered cooling/warming shelters. Provide timely maintenance, including snow and ice removal.

Market Transit Benefits: Effective marketing strategies, even with limited resources, can help communicate the benefits of transit services to the community and normalize transit as a convenient and comfortable way to travel in the community.  

Understand Community Needs: Conduct a Community Needs Assessment to help identify and understand the unmet mobility needs of communities and develop solutions in collaboration with residents, especially in a rural context. By undertaking comprehensive processes to understand mobility needs, service information and procurement gaps are bridged between rural communities and mobility operators.

Support Resilience: Provide incentives to build resilience and public safety through public transit. This can include offering free ridership on extremely hot or smoky days or to visit cooling or heating shelters.

Build Ridership: Offer incentives or reduced fees for students, seniors, or other low-income residents, or establish fare programs that reward long-term users, such as discounted yearly passes. Student semester passes or universal pass (U-Pass) programs allow entire student populations pay a built-in discounted fee for unlimited transit use.

Support Community Events: Market enhanced or extended services for special events (e.g., weekend services for a fall fair, extended evening hours for holiday shopping, late night service for New Year’s Eve).

Transportation Master Plans: Encourage the development of mixed-use transit nodes in under-served, lower-density areas to significantly enhance transit frequency, reliability, and coverage in areas with limited options. Be sure to review the Plan Connected Communities Big Move for more details related planning dense, connected, and transit-oriented development.

  • Designate specific lanes for buses to ensure they’re not stuck in traffic. This allows them to stay on schedule and become a more efficient way to travel during peak hours.
  • Identify transit metrics to monitor performance, including transit ridership, modal share, transportation network coverage (i.e., route length, network density, number of transit stations), how many people live with in a certain distance of transit, etc.

Inter-Municipal Partnerships: Explore regional approaches to inter-municipal transit services to meet the needs of commuters travelling across municipal boundaries (e.g., Roam from Banff to Canmore). Smaller communities can avoid the challenges associated with starting a new transit system by purchasing services from established urban transit systems in the region.

Community Partners: Build relationships with key community and regional stakeholders to build ridership. Within communities, school boards make reliable partners due to the predictability of student transportation needs. Heath providers also hold potential due to the overlap in customer markets, and the high cost of providing non-emergency medical transportation. Even major employers can be part of win-win partnerships that eliminate barriers to job opportunities.

LOCAL ACTION #4
Canmore-Banff Regional Bus Service

The Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission (BVRTSC) was formally established in 2011 as a a government agency, made up of the towns of Banff and Canmore and Improvement District #9, and is authorized to provide public passenger transportation services in the Bow Valley. The BVRTS is responsible for Banff’s popular local Roam transit service and in 2012 initiated the regional Roam service between Canmore and Banff. The Regional Service between Banff and Canmore provides a quick, convenient, and environmentally conscious way to travel for residents and visitors alike.

On-Demand Transit

The Town of Cochrane, Alberta, population 25,853, developed its own responsive on-demand app-based public transit service. The Cochrane On-Demand Local Transit (COLT), system overcomes many of the inherent economic barriers to efficient transit in smaller and more rural makes scheduled stops at specific locations, Cochrane’s COLT buses travel on optimized routes based on where users are, and where they want to go. 

Public Transit Pilot

In 2007, Hinton’s Town Council funded an 18-month pilot public transit project. This initiative was a direct response to the findings of a 2006 Mayor’s Task Force, which had identified transportation and affordable housing as critical issues in the community. The project aimed to address a service gap affecting low-income individuals and families who did not meet the criteria for the existing Handibus service. Given Hinton’s sprawling commercial and residential development, many residents faced considerable challenges in accessing local job opportunities and essential services. 

The positive impact of this public transit initiative became evident through passenger surveys conducted by the Town of Hinton. The system empowered and improved the quality of life for the target segments of the community it intended to serve. Increased mobility facilitated access to employment, medical services, social support, and recreational activities for individuals and families. Moreover, Hinton’s public transit system played a crucial role in strengthening community bonds by connecting neighborhoods that were previously inaccessible to those without private transportation options. 

 

Intermunicipal Partnerships for Transit

In the Municipal Systems Program, BC Transit partners with communities across the province (outside Greater Vancouver) to coordinate the delivery of 70 conventional and specialized public transit systems.  Municipalities approve service levels and set fares and, in a few cases, operate the service. In most cases, BC Transit contracts for service delivery with a private company or non-profit society. BC Transit capitalizes on specialized skills and economies of scale to provide planning, marketing, and contract administration services, and arranges province-wide contracts for vehicle and fuel purchases. About half of each system’s operating and amortized capital costs are funded by BC Transit, with the other half funded through fares and local governments.

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