Free bus rides on BC Transit in the Fraser Valley for 23 days in August
After a prolonged temporary suspension of all public transit bus services, BC Transit is offering free bus rides for all of its Fraser Valley services for 23 consecutive days throughout August 2023.
The provincial public transit authority announced today that its first day of regular operations in the Fraser Valley in four months is scheduled for Sunday, August 6.
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Free rides on all conventional bus services in Agassiz-Harrison, Central Fraser Valley, Chilliwack, Hope, and the No. 66 Fraser Valley Express on Highway 1 between SkyTrain Lougheed Town Centre Station in Burnaby and Chilliwack will be in effect from August 6 to 31.
HandyDART services will also be free for a full month, starting on Monday, July 31 when service resumes through August 31.
This long free-ride period represents a show of customer appreciation — a bid to win back riders who previously depended on BC Transit services.
The strike officially ended on July 21 when over 200 bus drivers under Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 561 ratified a new six-year contract, providing them with improved wages and benefits that are better aligned with TransLink workers. They are employed with private operator First Transit, which is BC Transit’s contracted operator for its services in the Fraser Valley. Negotiations were mediated by provincial appointed special mediator Vince Ready.
Although the strike came to an official end last week, services could not simply be immediately restarted, as much work needs to be done to prepare and restore services after a prolonged shutdown. This includes performing maintenance checks on over 100 buses to ensure the vehicles can operate safely and conducting training.
This was one of the longest public transit strikes in the history of British Columbia. If the strike continued for another two weeks, it would have exceeded theĀ all-time record of 136 days ā last yearās strike of BC Transit workers in the Sea to Sky corridor (Squamish, Whistler, and Pemberton), which started on January 29, 2022, and ended on June 14, 2022. BC Transit also offered a free ride period upon the restart of its Sea to Sky corridor services.