“What do seniors, adults, students and youth all have in common? Insufficient access to public transportation.”

That’s what a student-led petition to have better public transportation in the Fraser Valley reads.

It was created by a group of University of the Fraser Valley students who will be holding a letter-writing event on Saturday to help people bring their voice to the government level.

“A group of social work, community development students at the University of the Fraser Valley have recognized that public transportation in the Fraser Valley is a barrier for a lot of people who don’t have access to educational, employment, and social service opportunities. It is their goal to bring this matter to the attention of the provincial government by collecting petition signatures, and hosting a letter-writing event where they will help people write letters to their provincial government reps,” the press release reads.

The students feel public transit is lacking in terms of efficiency and reliability.

“The Fraser Valley is in a unique situation, geographically and financially. It does not qualify for access to the provincial public transportation dollars that the Greater Vancouver Regional District does, but we live in a region that is far more spread out than the GVRD is,” the petition reads. “This makes accessing essential services such as doctor’s appointments (which are often regionalized to Abbotsford Regional Hospital) and education very difficult.”

To take part in the event to address public transit in the Fraser Valley, you can sign the petition online at change.org. Additionally, you can attend the letter-writing event which is scheduled for Saturday, March 14 from noon to 3 p.m. at Decades Coffee Club (45846 Wellington Ave.).

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Abbotsford News