Hundreds of students at Van Tech Secondary rely on public transit to get to and from school, myself included. The Westbound 99 buses at 3:10 and 3:12 are particularly crucial to our commutes home from school. Van Tech students easily fill the 2 double-sized buses that previously came at these times, and even then, there were always students left waiting for the next bus. 

However, as of a month ago, TransLink cancelled these buses. In the winter, this leaves dozens of students to wait, often in the rain, in hopes of fitting into one of the smaller 9 buses or the single 99 that comes at 3:30. Both options are uncomfortable, crammed, and inconvenient. The volume of students being expected to fit onto these buses is frankly absurd. 

This issue is particularly relevant at Van Tech as we are home to 3 programs that attract out of catchment students: Summit, Flex Humanities, and French Immersion. The number of students living outside of catchment means that more rely on public transit to get to and from school.

This petition aims to show the number of Van Tech students affected by this change, and to urge TransLink to restore the previous bus schedule.