TransLink's approved 2025 fare hike is the highest since before COVID | Daily Hive

TransLink's approved 2025 fare hike is the highest since before the pandemic

TransLink fare gates at the Waterfront Station of SkyTrain's Canada Line. (Kenneth Chan)

Metro Vancouver public transit riders will experience the largest fare increase this year since before the pandemic.

This morning, TransLink’s board of directors approved the bylaws to rollout an average four per cent increase in overall fares. As usual each year, the increase will begin on Canada Day, July 1, 2025.

A four per cent increase comes after the average 2.3 per cent annual fare increases from 2021 to 2024, which is significantly lower than the inflation that was experienced over the period. However, through an agreement with the federal and provincial governments in exchange for TransLink receiving pandemic-time emergency operating subsides, fare increases were limited to 2.3 per cent until 2024.

This also follows the zero per cent increase for 2020 amidst the most severe impacts of the pandemic.

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Prior to the pandemic, as one of the measures to fund new and improved services, TransLink had planned an average four per cent fare increase for 2020, an average 4.1 per cent fare increase for 2021, and an average annual fare increase of three per cent between 2022 and 2024. None of these hikes were implemented as originally planned.

The four per cent increase for 2025 is in line with what was outlined in March 2024, when higher fare increases were approved for the forthcoming years; in addition to a four per cent increase for 2025, there will be increases of three per cent in 2026 and two per cent annually from 2027 to 2033.

“Since 2020, fare increases have either been cancelled or capped under the rate of inflation, which has contributed to TransLink’s revenues falling below behind the growth in costs,” said Patrice Impey, CFO of TransLink, during today’s board meeting, adding that “the four per cent increase will help our revenues to catch up after being held below the inflation rate for those past five years.”

“The 2025 increase will help narrow the gap at first. Fares will continue to be below the cumulative inflation over the year.”

TransLink fare increases compared with actual inflation. (TransLink)

In real figures, the four per cent increase on July 1, 2025, will result in a 15 to 25 cent increase for adults and a 10 to 15 cent increase for concession (ages 13 to 18 and 65+) paid with cash.

These cash-paid, single-trip adult fares will reach $3.35 (up from $3.20) for one-zone, $4.85 (up from $4.65) for two-zone, and $6.60 (up from $6.35) for three-zone, while cash-paid, single-trip concession fares will reach $2.25 (up from $2.15) for one-zone, $3.30 (up from $3.15) for two-zone, and $4.50 (up from $4.35) for three-zone.

With the Compass Card’s stored value, fares will go up by 10 to 20 cents for adults and 10 to 15 cents for concession. TransLink provides a discount for single-trip fares paid with stored value over cash.

With stored value, the new adult fares will be $2.70 for one-zone (up from $2.60), $4 for two-zone (up from $3.85), and $5.10 for three-zone (up from $4.90), and the new concession fares will be $2.25 for one-zone (up from $2.15), $3.30 for two-zone (up from $3.15), and $4.50 for three-zone (up from $4.35).

The daypass will increase to $11.95 for adults and $9.40 for concession, representing an uptick of $0.45 and $0.35, respectively.

Monthly pass fees for adults will reach $111.60 for one-zone (up from $107.30), $149.25 for two-zone (up from $143.50), and $201.55 for three-zone (up from $193.80), while the monthly pass for concession — which provides unlimited travel across all zones — will increase to $63.80 (up from $61.35).

Fares for the West Coast Express commuter rail and HandyDART will also go up in accordance to their respective separate fare structures.

Conventional fare increases on Metro Vancouver’s public transit system starting on July 1, 2025, not including West Coast Express and HandyDART. (TransLink)

TransLink still has plans to transition to distance-travelled fares

When asked during the meeting, TransLink staff reaffirmed the public transit authority’s plans to eventually abandon the existing three-zone fare system for SkyTrain and SeaBus and adopt a distance-travelled fare system with varying fares calculated based on where passengers exit the fare gates upon tapping out.

The three-zone fare system on buses was abolished about a decade ago for a flat rate, one-zone fare.

Switching to distance-travelled fares for SkyTrain and SeaBus was first approved as a policy direction in 2018 after a significant public consultation process. This would result in lower fares for short trips made across the current zone boundaries, but higher fares for longer distances. The changes would apply to not only single-trip fares, but also monthly passes.

“I just concur that we acknowledge that the current zone structure is a crude proxy for distance, and that within some zones, you can travel a long way. And then if you happen to do a short trip that crosses the zone border, then you incur a higher fare for trips on the gated system,” said Sarah Ross, the Vice President of Planning for TransLink, during the meeting today.

“We did a 2017 fare review that recommended shifting to distance-based. That remains our policy approach.”

Example of potential TransLink distance-based fare changes. (TransLink)

TransLink had planned to switch to distance-based fares shortly after the strategy was approved, but it was later determined that the existing Compass Card technology would need a major upgrade to handle such a system that stores more information.

The public transit authority is currently in the process of planning this upgrade of the Compass Card system, which would involve not only a technology upgrade but potentially new and improved fare gates. In 2022, the cost of this upgrade was estimated at about $216 million. No timeline has been established for its implementation, as it also requires final approval, but with each passing year, the technology is increasingly outdated.

Currently, there is not enough data storage space in the Compass Card to handle a more complicated fare table. Distance-travelled fares and the possibility of other types of special fares require a switch to account-based processing.

“There are a lot of products coming out today that have a lot more features. Under our Compass system, we’re really quite limited in the products that we offer, and we don’t have the ability to do distance-based fares,” TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn told Daily Hive Urbanized in an interview in late 2023.

“We don’t have the ability to do fare capping, loyalty programs, and a lot of other things. We are taking a look at other payment systems and other potential upgrades to Compass over the next couple years. That’s a big focus area for us because we think there’s a lot of potential there, and a lot of opportunities to do some really cool programs for our customers. It’s something that we’re looking into for what the next generation of Compass could look like, and it’s really exciting given the technology that’s out there.”

Earlier this month, the provincial government’s 2025 budget noted it will amend legislation governing TransLink to enable the public transit authority to increase its parking tax from the existing rate of 24 per cent to a new rate of 29 per cent — an increase of five per cent. There is no indication of when this could take effect.

TransLink faces a fiscal cliff for its operating costs, with a $72 million budget shortfall expected for 2025 and a $600 million annual shortfall forecast starting in 2026. TransLink has warned that without new funding to fill this operating shortfall, it could be forced to curtail many bus, SkyTrain, and SeaBus services and potentially even cancel the West Coast Express commuter rail starting next year.

To deter fare evasion and reduce revenue losses, the public transit authority first began a fare enforcement blitz in July 2024, and this strategy of significantly increased frequencies of fare checks is ongoing. According to TransLink, over 2.2 million passengers were checked for valid fares in 2024, including about 1.4 million by Transit Security Officers and 800,000 by Transit Police.

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