By The Canadian Press

Province adjusts transit fee for the disabled, but keeps bus pass costs

Jun 23, 2016 | 10:40 AM

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia government is cancelling an annual $45 administration fee for disabled people who buy bus passes, but it won’t drop monthly transit charges.

The provincial government website confirms the administration fee has been eliminated, but fees for a monthly pass that cost between $52 and $66 remains.

The monthly pass, which replaced a $45 annual pass, was announced in the Liberal government’s February budget.

Advocates have accused the province of trying to clawback most of a $77 monthly increase in benefits that’s slated to go into effect later this year. 

Inclusion BC spokeswoman Faith Bodnar says axing the $45 administration fee only affects a small portion of disabled people because not all of them need a bus pass.

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She says the $77 benefit increase is the first in a decade.

“Give people the full $77 a month increase that was brought forward in the budget in February, don’t claw back a $52 a month bus pass fee or a $66 a month special transportation fee,” says Bodnar.

Nearly half of the 100,000 people who are disabled in B.C. don’t receive any recognition for their transportation needs and Bodnar says the bus pass program fails them. (CKNW, The Canadian Press)

The Canadian Press