On Monday, Mar. 9, UFV Student Union Society’s (SUS) president Bilal Faisal Faheem sat with The Cascade in an interview to share new information on changes coming to BC Transit’s Fraser Valley Express 66 bus (FVX 66) that will benefit UFV students.
Faheem highlighted that the FVX 66 is important for UFV students, because this bus is responsible for connecting to cities such as Lougheed, Langley, Chilliwack, and Abbotsford. He added that although the existing campus shuttle service does travel to both the Abbotsford and the Chilliwack campus, there are students that live west of UFV. who rely on the FVX 66 as their only means of commuting to campus.
Additionally, Bilal shared that UFV’s statistics show that the student population that lives outside of Abbotsford has increased rapidly in the last six years — meaning more students rely on a bus service that, as it stands, is too costly for campus bound riders.
“There’s no other way to come into the Fraser Valley except for that bus. And the bus is absolutely unaffordable for students.”
Faheem explained that the bus costs five Canadian dollars per ride, amounting to $10 for a round trip. However, the cost of the FVX 66 is not included on the U-Pass provided to students, and any fares paid for that bus service are on top of what students already pay for the U-Pass every semester.
He mentioned that SUS has been in talks with the UFV community and local provincial government partners such as Mission’s Mayor Paul Horn and Abbotsford’s Mayor Ross Siemens. This was done in effort to make changes to the Fraser Valley transit system, approved by the board of the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD), to better support students.
“That is something that we are trying to work on. To make sure that [the] Fraser Valley Express can complement the already existing central Fraser Valley transit system that we have for Abbotsford and Mission, and to support students more.”
Faheem was also ecstatic to share good news regarding the progress achieved in relation to making the FVX 66 more affordable for students. Effective immediately, post-secondary students will be eligible for the FVX 66 concession pass, which lowers the monthly pass cost from $100 to $85. This allows students to save $15 on transport per month.
Another milestone was an increase in service hours for the FVX 66, adding 9,500+ service hours to the route, which started on Jan. 1, 2026, enabling the bus to run more trips during the mornings and evenings. Although Faheem is content with the progress made, he remarked that more steps need to be taken to continue supporting students who use transit.
“Still there’s more work to be done over there, [but] that’s where we are with [the FVX 66]. I’m sure that’s gonna help quite a few students with saving and also show them that yes, there is work being done.”
He talked about an initiative that students could expect to see come to fruition in the near future. He confirmed that SUS is working on a proposal to present to BC Transit and the FVRD, with the goal of offering a new transit pilot program with a limited number of seats for students that meet certain criteria. The final details of the program are yet to be ironed out, but Faheem pointed out that there is work being done to create a program that supports students relying on the FVX 66 that can also be viable for BC Transit.
Furthermore, Faheem explained that in the past seven years, capacity and budget were an impediment for a pilot program such as this one to exist. However, with more service added to the route, the issue of budget still remains — which is what this pilot is working to balance. Faheem hopes the program can begin in the Winter 2027 semester.
“We’re getting [the draft] approved internally, and then we’ll be sending that out to all the parties. [In terms of] what that pilot will look like, we are trying to propose this for the Winter 2027 semester where students can actually [enroll] into the pilot in the late Fall 2026 semester.”
He is grateful to the student body for being patient with SUS throughout the long advocacy process for getting more benefits for students taking the FVX 66. Faheem expressed confidence about more details on the pilot program coming soon, and that the end goal is to make the whole process as simple and accessible as possible for UFV students.
“Thank you for being patient with us and showing us your support for these things. We’ll get the results very soon. [These are] just some highlights of us getting results, but we will actually get the final result very soon.”
