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Burnaby lowering bar for city staff to access transit subsidy

Now, staff working an average of just 10 hours per week can get a quarter of their monthly bus pass paid for by the city
burnaby transit
The City of Burnaby currently subsidizes a quarter the cost of a monthly transit pass for city employees who work an average of at least 20 hours a week. That threshold will soon drop, however, to 10 hours per week.

More municipal employees in Burnaby will have access to a discount on a monthly transit pass after city council voted to broaden its employee transit benefit.

Currently, the city offers to pay 25% of a monthly transit pass for employees who work an average of at least 20 hours per week in the previous month. According to a staff report, the city has a budget of $38,000 for the program.

But in the last three years, only $15,000 (2017) to $22,000 (2019) has been paid out to 97 to 132 employees. The number of employees enrolling in the program increased in the last year – about 18% – largely because the city decreased the required number of hours worked to 24 per week, staff said.

Now, council has approved a staff proposal to set that bar much lower. To encourage more employees to use the program, staff proposed the requirements be dropped to subsidizing the transit passes for employees who work an average of 10 hours a week in the previous month.

Staff said the city would also promote the program throughout all departments through city-wide emails, employee orientation programs and other initiatives.

The move comes as the city contemplates an upcoming transportation master plan, which will emphasize, along with active transportation, increasing transit ridership in the city.

Council voted to approve the proposal, and staff will continue to review the program annually.