Yukon NDP backs down from push for free public transit in Whitehorse

The Yukon NDP is backing down from its push for free public transit in Whitehorse. 

The initiative is a commitment under the latest confidence-and-supply agreement (CASA) signed by the party and governing Yukon Liberals last year. However, NDP MLA Lane Tredger, who has championed free transit as a way to fight climate change and inequality, acknowledged Wednesday that the idea has received a lukewarm reception from both the City of Whitehorse and the Liberals. 

"I think we've pushed as hard as we can, to be perfectly honest," Tredger said in an interview.  

"I think we've used really every lever we have to move this forward, but without either of the other parties championing it with us, we can't do it alone." 

Tredger said the NDP is now focusing its efforts on using the money offered by the Yukon government for the free transit initiative — $1.5 million a year — to purchase bus passes that can then be distributed to residents in need. The idea was previously endorsed by Whitehorse city council after it became apparent that the money being offered by the Yukon government wasn't enough to cover the actual cost of making transit free.

Mayor Laura Cabott, who has repeatedly questioned the logistics and practicality of making transit free, has previously said eliminating bus fares would likely cost closer to $1.7 million a year, a figure that would rise over time. 

Tredger, last fall, unsuccessfully lobbied the Yukon government for more money to cover the difference, suggesting that it could pull cash from a $5 million green infrastructure fund. Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn, however, said that fund was meant for projects outside of Whitehorse and that using money from it for free transit in the city "would be really robbing Peter to pay Paul." 

Tredger, on Wednesday, said they still believed the government could find cash to fund free transit if it really wanted to, pointing once again to a $1 million landlord subsidy and a now-shelved promise to put more than $20 million toward a new ore dock in Skagway, Alaska. However, they also acknowledged that the initiative can't happen "without the partnership of the Liberals and the city." 

"Unless one of the other parties comes back to the table and does have some enthusiasm and some desire to push this forward, we're looking at the option of distributing free passes instead," they said.  

"And knowing that's not free transit is not the same thing, but I do think it's a compromise for where we are." 

Yukon cabinet communications spokesperson Laura Seeley confirmed in an email Wednesday that the government has had conversations with the NDP and "partners" about free transit passes, but wanted to "touch base" with Tredger about their comments to CBC News before providing a further response. 

Cabott, in an emailed statement, said the city had previously sent a letter to Tredger and Mostyn to follow up on the plan about transit passes and was awaiting a reply. The statement did not address a question about whether the city was aware of the NDP's intention to stop pursuing free transit altogether.

Tredger's comments came on the heels of the city releasing the results of a study on free transit, which included an online survey completed by more than 900 people, an analysis of free transit programs in three other municipalities and interviews with local organizations.

The mayor, in a news conference Tuesday, said the study was undertaken after the city saw an estimated 40 per cent increase in ridership after making transit temporarily free in 2022, when an escapement slide blocked Robert Service Way. The Yukon Liberals and NDP, separately, signed their updated CASA the next year.