The recent transportation plebiscite results were a big disappointment to local student associations.
The BCIT Student Association publicly supported the Mayors’ Council’s transportation plan.
“We were quite surprised by the results and honestly disappointed,” said Shubhi Singh, the association’s vice-president, external.
Without funding secured for transportation projects in the region, necessary improvements to the system will be stalled, she said.
“In the short term, it might not look like a big difference, lives will go on as usual. But we do have around one million more people moving to Metro Vancouver in the next 30 years,” she said. “We need to make sure our transportation systems are up-to-date and sustainable to support those students and workers.”
The association plans to work with different levels of government to find a solution to maintaining and improving transit for students, according to Singh, even though the 0.5 per cent sales tax to fund transportation projects was rejected by voters.
“We’re just really hoping to find an alternative method,” she said.
The SFU Student Society also advocated for a Yes vote.
Kathleen Yang, vice-president of external relations, expressed disappointment that the transportation plan did not receive public approval but said the society is focussed on ensuring transit is accessible and affordable for its student members.
“We remain committed to serving our members across all three of our campuses, which is Burnaby, Vancouver and Surrey,” she said. “(We’re) committed to continuing to provide a subsidized universal transit pass, which is the U-Pass, at as low as a fee as possible for all students.”
A number of SFU students who took part in a health sciences course at the school, Health and the Built Environment, also supported a Yes vote but from a health perspective. Students learned about transit issues, and the plebiscite in particular, through the course, taught by Meghan Winters.
They attempted to get youth more engaged in the process, she said.
“Some of them, for sure, ended up becoming a face for youth in the referendum,” she said.
The students are part of a generation that is heavily dependent on transit, she pointed out, so the future of transit is of particular interest to them.
“These are health science students, so there’s an interest in air quality and emissions, as well,” she said.
