MOTION

At the Council meeting of June 12, 2001, Councillor Bass submitted the following Notice of Motion, which was recognized by the Chair.

Rebate To The Public For Transit Services Not Provided
- Free Bus Service File: 5554

WHEREAS, under law, TransLink has a responsibility to provide a regional transportation system that moves people and goods,

AND WHEREAS, the current paralysis of the bus system goes in exactly the reverse direction of the Livable Region Strategy, namely to decrease car use, increase transit use, and thereby reduce air pollution and traffic congestion;

AND WHEREAS, the taxes and other fees that have been designated for transit services have not been providing those services for the duration of the current strike;

AND WHEREAS, transit riders pay a greater proportion of the costs of transit than do car users pay the costs of car use;

AND WHEREAS, transit riders saw an increase in fares last year only to be hit by a debilitating strike this year, a strike that concerns two issues that would provoke a strike by almost any union: contracting out and creating part-time employees;

AND WHEREAS, when the strike is settled, there will need to be an incentive to encourage citizens to return to the use of public transit;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, Vancouver City Council recommend to the Board of TransLink that free transportation services be provided to the public for the same number of days that the strike will have lasted.

* * * * *

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver