Child, Youth and Family-Friendly Transit Systems

For low-income families in BC, mobility is increasingly out of reach 

Transportation connects people to school, work, health care, community, and one another. It is a determinant of whether children, youth and families can access a dignified life. Our research, grounded in the voices of those who live with mobility poverty, makes the case plainly: when transit is unaffordable or unreliable, the consequences ripple across other socioeconomic outcomes — employment, health, mental well-being, and social inclusion. 

Transportation is a substantial expense for low-income households in BC, alongside housing and food. In cities across the province, low-income families are routinely forced to choose between transit fares and other pressing daily needs. The result is measurable exclusion: limited job prospects, missed medical appointments, and diminished access to services and lived-in community opportunities that allow people to thrive. 

Access to affordable and reliable transit is one of the most direct routes out of poverty

Access to transit can be the difference between holding a job and losing it, between finishing a course and turning it down, between reaching care and going without. We know that transportation barriers fall hardest on those already navigating structural disadvantage — low-income families, disproportionately led by lone mothers, and families who are Indigenous or racialized, disabled, or otherwise marginalized. Where mobility is denied, inequity deepens.

Children and young people do not grow in isolation. They thrive within networks of care: families, relatives, mentors, and the community services designed to support them. When transit is inaccessible, those networks strain. For low-income and at-risk youth, transit is not a convenience but a lifeline to shelter, school, health care, and food security. 

Read our January 2023 Transit for Teens letter to BC's Premier and Ministers with recommendations on building an accessible public transit system.

As well, read our research brief released on September 2026. The brief outlines our youth-based research project that expanded our evidence-based understanding of the impact of transit access and mobility poverty on low-income and at-risk youth aged 13 – 18 in the Lower Mainland and Interior region of BC. Our research also proposed actionable recommendations based on our key project findings to build equity into transit systems across BC to transform the lives of low-income youth.

Our evidence-based policy solutions

Our research and community engagement on equitable access to transit for low-income youth and families point the way to clear policy solutions:

• Expand the Get on Board program to include all youth up to age 18 in BC.
• Incentivize children and youth to get to school using green, active transportation.
• Establish low or no-traffic active transportation zones around all BC public schools and ensure transit stops are adjacent to schools.
• Introduce a sliding scale fare pass based on income for adults. 
• Introduce fare evasion fine forgiveness programs in both of BC's transit systems for those experiencing financial hardship.
• Significantly invest in transit infrastructure in rural and remote BC regions. 
• Improve equitable, safe access to transportation for families impacted by disability by bringing TransLink's HandyDART fully in-house.

Our flagship campaign: Transit for Teens

We call on the province to extend the provincial Get on Board program to include free transit for all youth up to age 18 in every transit system in BC. Youth are currently excluded from this important program in BC that only goes up to age 12. They do not deserve to be. 

Youth aged 13-18 in the crucial developmental stage of adolescence need basic mobility more than ever to thrive in every aspect of their lives. Our youths are the future of this province and our most valuable resource. We must ensure their right to access school and thrive while BC brings up new generations who choose sustainable transportation for life. We cannot separate the right of every youth to access their school from their access to the mobility to do so. 

BC needs a universal approach to public transit that ensures no youth is left behind or singled out due to their socioeconomic status. And let’s ensure that all at-risk youth experiencing mobility poverty can access the lifesaving supports they need.  

Transit for Teens Info

In the news

Read about the Union of BC Municipalities 2024 resolution endorsing free transit for all youth under 18!

B.C. communities support expanding free transit for all youth
TransLink says suggested expansion could cost it $30 million in fare revenues annually
CBC News | September 19, 2024

B.C. municipalities back free transit for youth
Simon Little | Global News | September 19, 2024

UBCM supports expanding free transit to youths under 18
Transportation was top of mind on day 4 of the UBCM conference Thursday, with municipal leaders passing a vote in support of free transit for youths up to 18 years old.
CityNews | September 19, 2024

Listen to this CBC interview with Gloria Macarenko on On the Coast here: Youth Leadership Coalition member Ellie Goelman addresses the need for Transit for Teens with precision: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/1.7181851

Read our January 2023 Transit for Teens letter to BC's Premier and Ministers with recommendations on building an accessible public transit system.  

Endorsers

Transit for Teens has now been endorsed by over 30 stakeholders including:

• Union of BC Municipalities - endorsed 2024
• Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities
• BC School Trustees Association
• City of Langford
• City of New Westminster
• City of Vernon
• CIty of Kelowna
• District of Oak Bay
• District of Saanich
• New Westminster School Board
• Okanagan Transit Alliance
• Powell River School Board
• Town of Gibsons 
  
• Vancouver School Board

Research

Transit for Teens is based on research and data that we gathered as one of four community partners in the City of Vancouver Reduced Fare Transit Pilot Project in 2021-2022 and our historical support for the #AllOnBoard campaign run by the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition. The pilot project provided free transit for six months to low-income residents and families. Our peer researchers gathered data on the impact of free transit on the lives of pilot participants, including at-risk youth.   

Check out our report here.  

Transit for Teens needs your financial support. Will you support us to hire youth leaders and carry out all the high impact actions we need to win? Please join our Transit for Teens fundraising drive so our important work on this issue can continue. You can make a financial contribution to support Transit for Teens here.