A moving election issue: Here's why federal help is needed for better transit options

This column is an opinion by David Brake, a researcher, journalist and activist who lives in St. John's. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

Voters say the top issue in the federal election is climate change. And here in Newfoundland andLabrador, we struggle to attract and retain younger people, with an uncertain economic climate.

One policy you probably won't hear about from your federal candidate, though, is transit. Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the worst-served provinces for transit, and improvements could make living more affordable for many, improve our health and help us meet our climate targets.

Best of all, greater federal support is already in most of the major parties' manifestos, so candidates (and MPs) should be willing to help move things forward but only if they hear from voters (and constituents) that it's important to them.

Happy Valley-Goose Bay is trying to develop Labrador's first public transit service, but elsewhere in the province, getting around without a car seems set to get harder.

Metrobus Transit, which serves St John's and parts of the northeast Avalon Peninsula, for example, had plans to improve service before the pandemic but is instead facing cuts, unless city elections on Sept. 28 bring a change of direction.

Many households can't afford cars

DRL, which runs the only coast-to-coast transit service in Newfoundland, has lost money on that part of its business for years and threatened to close in June after heavy COVID losses. Its owner, Jason Roberts, says he is still waiting for promised provincial aid.

The cost of owning and running vehicles is the second largest household expense for many households. AU.S. study suggests a third of households can't afford a car and half can't afford more than one.

In areas where commuter transit is feasible, being able to rely on a bus instead for some journeys could save hard-pressed families thousands of dollars.

And our carbon emissions from road transport is more than a quarter of all the province's emissions larger than every other sector except heating and electricity production.

The absence of a co-ordinated, government-supported public transit network linking larger communities across the province has also been a hindrance to tourists for more than a decade. This makes it hard for some to attend needed health appointments, and has driven the emergence of a costly patchwork quilt of unco-ordinated private and non-profit services to fill gaps.

For example, if DRL were to stop running, Roberts says the province would have to spend at least $1 million on taxis to transport the various government clients he carries each year. Without it, many of the 32,000 people carried each year might struggle to find other ways to get across the island.

The current federal government has made plenty of transit funding available to the province $100 million was announced in 2018 but only a tiny fraction has been spent, though even a few million dollars could make a huge difference in many communities.

There are many possible explanations, but the funding of running costs might be an important barrier. While the federal government offers help to purchase buses and other infrastructure (when provinces match it), neither level of government generally provides financial support for operational costs.

Fares and fairness

Cities and towns on their own, however, struggle to raise enough revenue to pay more drivers, even though they pay less than a third of the cost of the buses themselves.

They can't offer more widespread or frequent services, and voters who might welcome a cheaper and more environmental transport alternative feel they have little choice but to keep running cars instead.

The broad-based national Keep Transit Moving Coalition has a set of demands that might present an opportunity to break this logjam, however. In particular, it calls for the replacement of periodic federal transit initiatives with reliable, permanent federal funding not just of transit infrastructure but of operating costs as well.

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It also calls for a national intercity and highway bus service plan a proposal that has been taken up by the NDP and Greens in their platforms, too. [Disclosure: I was an NDP candidate in the most recent provincial election.]

Ironically, ongoing government support for passenger bus transit across the island was part of the deal struck between the federal and provincial governments when the railway was shut down here in the 1980s.

LISTEN: From May, DRL's Jason Roberts talks to The St. John's Morning Show about the financial crisis his company has been facing:

Pressure to ensure a national bus transportation network was available coast to coast, and federal funding to support it could push the N.L. government into ensuring there is a reliable transit option to get between our larger communities.

There are many issues you might want to raise with when federal candidates are looking for your vote, but if you get the chance, I urge you to ask them what they will do to make sure that federal support for transit nationally is adapted to our needs as a province.

Relatively small sums if offered in the right way could make a huge difference in providing cleaner, cheaper options to get around.

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