1,500 Temporary Layoffs for Transit Workers in Vancouver

"Almost 1,500 temporary layoffs will take place at TransLink, Coast Mountain Bus Company and B.C. Rapid Transit Company, with the bus company again feeling the effects most because more than half of the transit system’s employees work there," reports Jennifer Saltman in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

"The cuts come a week after TransLink revealed that due to plunging ridership, farebox revenue and fuel tax income, it is losing about $2.5 million per day, and it is expected that April’s revenue will be down $70 million, or 51 per cent, from what was forecasted earlier this year," adds Saltman. Translink expects to lose $75 million to $93 million every month for the next six months. 

In addition to the wave of temporary layoffs, service is also taking a huge hit, with 18 bus routes suspended around the city already last week, and another 47 routes expected to be cut in May. "According to the transit agency, it prioritized preserving routes serving hospitals and other health facilities, and routes that are suspended either duplicate other routes or have low ridership," reports Saltman. 

As of this writing, the reporting on state of transit agencies in the United States during the pandemic has focused mostly on service reductions, lost revenue at the farebox, and the potential for transit to continue to suffer in the a recession or if people flock to automobiles to reduce public health risk (whether transit proves to be a significant risk or not). Stories in the United States, like a broadly sweeping article about U.S. transit agencies from The New York Times, or another article focusing specifically on D.C. Metro, have tended to mention the future threat of massive layoffs.