As many cities around the world continue to fret over how best to make room for newcomers, one Canadian city is adding transportation access to its support toolkit for refugees. Victoria, B.C., is giving many who’ve recently arrived a year’s worth of free ride passes, BC Transit announced this week.
The program, funded by the Victoria Regional Transit Commission (VRTC) and jointly administered by BC Transit and the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA), is open to any refugees who have resettled or will resettle in the region between December 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016.
“Being able to navigate our city by bus will help with these new residents’ settlement and integration process by getting them connected with the many services available in our community,” Winnie Lee, director of operations at the ICA, said in a statement.
According to Saanich News, the motion, passed unanimously by the VRTC, was brought forward by the commission’s student representative. The VRTC maintains a non-voting student seat that alternates annually between a University of Victoria and a Camosun College Student Society member.
“This initiative will ensure that those fleeing heart-wrenching circumstances are able to get around the city they now call home,” Kenya Rogers of the University of Victoria Students’ Society told Saanich News. “Providing a bus pass to refugees is just one way of supporting individuals who are faced with the difficulties of resettlement and integration into a new community. It will allow for newcomers to move freely around the city and to access the many services, community groups, and public spaces in the region.”
While the motion was proposed in response to the Syrian and Mediterranean refugee crises, it is open to all refugees, regardless of country of origin. Newcomers will complete an intake session with the ICA to enroll.
Jen Kinney is a freelance writer and documentary photographer. Her work has also appeared in Philadelphia Magazine, High Country News online, and the Anchorage Press. She is currently a student of radio production at the Salt Institute of Documentary Studies. See her work at jakinney.com.
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