Should TransLink have a flat fee for all students?
TransLink recently held its annual general meeting aboard the new SeaBus — a nice touch for what could have been an otherwise dull occasion. The passenger ferry — packed with VIPs, politicians, media and concerned citizens — sailed across a picture-perfect Burrard Inlet for the occasion, which laid out the transit agency’s less-than-sparkling financial outlook. Among those not in attendance for the annual event: Lisa Pinoni, a busy mother of three from Vancouver who is frustrated with the escalating cost of bus fares for secondary and elementary students. Pinoni, who has two children attending high school in nearby Burnaby, can’t understand why students at the secondary level are paying more for transit than U-Pass holders at colleges and universities. Since the price for the concession bus pass available to students was raised in April, she is now paying $46.50 for each of her high schoolers — translating into an out-of-pocket expense of $93 monthly to get her kids to class. “Why am I
