---
title: "David Eby rules out a new vehicle levy for TransLink"
description: "BC NDP leader David Eby said Friday he will not create a new annual fee on registered vehicles in Metro Vancouver, after a radio report said the idea had been under discussion before the election call."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/news/david-eby-rules-out-translink-vehicle-levy-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:07:01.144Z"
---

BC NDP leader [David Eby](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/david-eby) said Friday he will not introduce an annual vehicle levy to fund TransLink, ruling out a proposal that had reportedly been under discussion before he called the provincial election. Daily Hive Urbanized reported the statement on October 2, 2026.

CKNW radio host Jas Johal reported on October 2 that before the election call, the BC NDP government and TransLink had been discussing a possible annual fee of $100 to $150 on every registered vehicle in Metro Vancouver. Under the proposal Johal described, ICBC would collect the fee when vehicle owners renewed their insurance each year.

When reporters asked Eby about the report at a press conference in Kelowna, he was direct. "This is how we always work with TransLink. Bring everything you've got. They did bring forward a proposal for a vehicle levy. We are not going ahead with the vehicle levy. That will not happen," Daily Hive Urbanized quoted him as saying.

The Conservative Party of BC responded by calling the discussions a secret plan. [Trevor Halford](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/trevor-halford), the Conservative candidate for Surrey-White Rock, said in a statement that Eby had promised to tax the wealthy but had instead raised costs for lower-income British Columbians. "David Eby cannot be trusted. He will make life more expensive," Halford said, according to Daily Hive Urbanized.

TransLink, in a statement to Daily Hive Urbanized on the same day, said the provincial government is responsible for choosing a new revenue source and that the transit authority has not pushed for any particular option. TransLink also flagged a growing problem with one of its existing funding sources: average fuel consumption per vehicle has fallen 45 per cent since 2002, according to the authority, as more drivers move to electric or fuel-efficient cars. That means the gas tax TransLink collects brings in less money even as the number of vehicles grows.

The underlying funding problem is real and pressing. In 2025, the BC NDP government gave TransLink $312 million in operating support to cover revenue shortfalls through the end of 2027, and committed to passing legislation in 2027 to create a permanent new revenue source beginning in 2028. TransLink says it needs that source to generate at least $112 million a year.

Eby's statement came one day after he announced a separate campaign promise to suspend part of the provincial gas tax, which he said would reduce fuel prices by as much as 30 cents per litre for Metro Vancouver drivers. Daily Hive Urbanized noted that a levy of $100 to $150 annually could offset some of those savings for drivers in the region.

Voters can learn which parties have pledged what on transit funding at [/bc/provincial-2026/parties](/bc/provincial-2026/parties).

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