Of all the things that could ruffle feathers, a picture of a new design of a City of Vancouver maintenance repair truck was shared on social media, leading to some minor backlash online.
A photo of a pothole response crew truck was shared by Laura Christensen, Vancouver independent Park Board commissioner, last Thursday. She shared her thoughts in a post on X.
Some snazzy new branding for the City works trucks, while millions are cut from Parks & Recreation. #priorities #vanpoli pic.twitter.com/oAlGf0BAzb
— Laura Christensen (@l_christe) June 18, 2026
Her post led to some outrage among progressive politicians, like COPE Councillor Sean Orr, who said, “No money for cooling kits, lifeguards, suicide prevention fencing, arts funding, libraries, climate retrofit grants, street festivals… but we can afford this.”
Opinions overall were divided, with some not seeing an issue with the new designs.
This great! Nice to be able to see when crews are out keeping our city infrastructure safe.
— kyle (@kyulls) June 19, 2026
Wrapping a truck is not that expensive compared to other wasteful initiatives around virtue signalling around ideological initiatives. Glad to see they are focused on fixing potholes. This is what Govts need to do
— InconvenientData (@InconvenientDa5) June 19, 2026
How much did this cost the City of Vancouver?
We asked the City of Vancouver about the new branding and received a lot of information.
The new vehicle graphics are being used on just four existing trucks that are being operated for pothole repairs. A statement from the City of Vancouver explained that the new designs are for the purpose of making the trucks more visible and recognizable while City crews are working.
“This includes prominent 3-1-1 reporting prompts to encourage residents to report potholes for follow-up,” the City told Daily Hive Urbanized.
The statement added that resident reports play an important part in pothole repair, as “timely pothole repairs help prevent road damage from worsening and reduce the need for more costly repairs.”
Funding for the four trucks came out of the existing operating budgets at a cost of $3,800 each, which included materials and staff labour. So, just over $15,000 total.
“On average, crews repair approximately 25,000 potholes across the City’s 1,400-kilometre road network at approximately $25 to $40 per pothole repair,” the City said.
“This work supports the City’s broader focus on preventative road maintenance and making it easier for residents to report issues. While not yet approved, Council has directed staff to consider significantly increased investment in roads and sidewalk restoration in the draft 2027–2030 Capital Plan, including $104 million over the next four years to restore the City’s arterial road, local road and sidewalk networks toward a state of good repair,” it added.
What are your thoughts? Is this a needless expense, or is the new Vancouver maintenance truck design a worthy upgrade?