Protesters opposed to proposed transit fare increases blocked off the south end of Vancouver's Granville Street Bridge on Tuesday morning.

Vehicle traffic halted as protesters blocked the roadway at the south end of the Granville Street Bridge on Tuesday morning.
(CBC)

The members of the Bus Riders Union say they staged the short demonstration in an effort to win public support for their campaign to stop the fare hikes, which will be voted on by TransLink later this month.

Cars and transit buses heading into downtown Vancouver were forced to pull over to the side of the road, which meant commuters had to walk across the bridge to work.

The protest forced commuters to get off the buses and walk across the bridge into downtown Vancouver.
(CBC)

Yuly Chan, one of the organizers, called it a successful protest: "Definitely. One of our main objectives was to let people know the fare increase is coming, and I think people know."
 
Melissa Smalley, a commuter who was had to leave her bus, was not impressed.

"All these people are doing is pissing all these people off," she said. "They're trying to get to work. So I'll just walk across the bridge so I'm not late."

The TransLink board of directors will vote on June 27 on the proposed increases, which would see a monthly one-zone pass rise to $74 from $69; a one-zone single ticket could be boosted to $2.50 from $2.25.

The increases would still leave Vancouver transit riders paying less that commuters in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.