A “Public” Friday Airshow Needs Non-Car Access
A “Public” Friday Airshow Needs Non-Car Access
The City of Abbotsford should require practical non-car access for the Friday Twilight Airshow, and it should publish one clear, evidence-based rationale for any Friday restrictions.
Abbotsford’s Friday Twilight Airshow is marketed as a major community event, including after-dark programming that is explicitly “Friday night only.” But if you cannot drive, cannot afford a car-based trip, or rely on transit - including HandyDart and taxis, “public access” becomes theoretical. A signature, publicly promoted event cannot be “open to the public” in any practical sense if Friday access is designed around private vehicles.
This matters even more because the airshow takes place at a facility that is owned and operated by the City of Abbotsford. If Friday access is constrained, that is a City decision, and it should be communicated clearly, consistently, and early.
Two explanations, one problem
In public Facebook replies, the Abbotsford International Airshow Society has pointed to City concerns about congestion on the Mt. Lehman Road side, especially “traffic congestion.” In the City email thread I reviewed, the issue is framed differently, as a safety and security risk tied to pedestrian and cycling egress in the dark.
Those are not the same justification. Congestion management and night-time egress security are different problems, and they point to different mitigation strategies. If City Hall is going to restrict Friday access, it should be able to provide one clear rationale, supported by evidence, with a mitigation plan that restores safe non-car options.
Public funding standards point in the same direction
The Province’s Destination Events Program (DEP) lists “open to the public” as a mandatory eligibility criterion: “Events must be open to all members of the public.” The Abbotsford International Airshow is listed as a 2025 DEP funding recipient.
Whatever the internal operational discussions are between agencies, the public standard is straightforward: if an event is positioned as public, and receives public support, access cannot be functionally limited to those who can drive.
City policy points in the same direction
Abbotsford’s Transportation and Transit Master Plan includes a clear target: 25% of all trips by walking, cycling, and transit once the City reaches 200,000 residents.
A “car-only Friday” for one of Abbotsford’s highest-profile events runs directly against the spirit of that adopted direction. It also undercuts the City’s repeated messaging to reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips by using transit and carpooling when special-event demand is high.
This is solvable, and Abbotsford has done it before
There is already a credible precedent for Friday transit service. BC Transit’s 2019 Airshow Shuttle schedule shows Friday service from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., aligned to the Twilight program window and connected to the FVX at Highstreet.
More recently, public communications show the opposite pattern: weekend shuttle service is promoted, but Friday is not included. For example, BC Transit’s 2024 airshow shuttle announcement covers Saturday and Sunday only. City communications in 2023 similarly describe a free shuttle running Saturday and Sunday.
The issue is not whether transit can work. Abbotsford has already run Friday service, and it has already proven the FVX connection model. The issue is whether Friday is being treated as “public” in anything more than name.
The Province’s Destination Events Program (DEP) lists “open to the public” as a mandatory eligibility criterion: “Events must be open to all members of the public.” The Abbotsford International Airshow is listed as a 2025 DEP funding recipient.
Whatever the internal operational discussions are between agencies, the public standard is straightforward: if an event is positioned as public, and receives public support, access cannot be functionally limited to those who can drive.
City policy points in the same direction
Abbotsford’s Transportation and Transit Master Plan includes a clear target: 25% of all trips by walking, cycling, and transit once the City reaches 200,000 residents.
A “car-only Friday” for one of Abbotsford’s highest-profile events runs directly against the spirit of that adopted direction. It also undercuts the City’s repeated messaging to reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips by using transit and carpooling when special-event demand is high.
This is solvable, and Abbotsford has done it before
There is already a credible precedent for Friday transit service. BC Transit’s 2019 Airshow Shuttle schedule shows Friday service from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., aligned to the Twilight program window and connected to the FVX at Highstreet.
More recently, public communications show the opposite pattern: weekend shuttle service is promoted, but Friday is not included. For example, BC Transit’s 2024 airshow shuttle announcement covers Saturday and Sunday only. City communications in 2023 similarly describe a free shuttle running Saturday and Sunday.
The issue is not whether transit can work. Abbotsford has already run Friday service, and it has already proven the FVX connection model. The issue is whether Friday is being treated as “public” in anything more than name.
Benchmarking: a rural festival that still plans for non-car access
A rural, remote event can publish and operate credible non-car access options, so Abbotsford’s Friday Twilight should be able to do the same.
Both Shambhala Music Festival (Salmo River Ranch) and the Abbotsford International Airshow have benefited from provincial event funding programs over time, including the former Tourism Events Program (TEP) and today’s Destination Events Program (DEP). That context matters because public funding implies a public-interest standard, including practical access.
Shambhala is not in a city centre. It is remote, has constrained road access, and manages large arrival peaks. Despite that, Shambhala’s official public-facing information treats attending without a private car as a planned-for scenario, not an exception.
What Shambhala provides, in plain terms
Based on Shambhala’s published travel and accessibility information, it offers non-car pathways that can be planned in advance:
- Intercity shuttles are a core access option. Shambhala sells official paid shuttles from major hubs, including Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary, and Spokane. A person without a car can buy a seat and arrive with a predictable plan.
- Carpool and rideshare are explicitly supported. Shambhala points attendees to carpool and rideshare resources. These are not perfect, but the event signals clearly that shared travel is part of the attendance model.
- Accessibility supports are visible in advance. Shambhala publishes an accessibility program and an accessibility zone, with plain-language descriptions of what is offered and how to connect with the festival.
This is not a claim that Shambhala is universally accessible or friction-free. It is a narrower point: the event treats non-car attendance as normal, and it operationalises that with specific options and clear public information.
Where Friday Twilight falls short by comparison
Friday Twilight is held at a city-owned airport in a mid-sized Canadian city, near significant regional infrastructure. In theory, multimodal access should be easier here than at a rural farm venue.
In practice, Friday Twilight does not consistently meet the same standard of clear, complete, Friday-specific access for people who cannot, or do not, arrive by private vehicle. The gap is both service and information:
- No complete Friday transit substitute. If the dedicated Airshow Shuttle does not operate on Friday, then “regional transit exists” is not a workable plan. Non-car attendees still need a complete last-mile connection to the correct gate, with Friday hours that align with the event.
- Walk-in access is not consistently treated as a Friday option. If walk-in access is restricted, limited, or unclear for Friday, the practical effect is a vehicle-first event by design.
- HandyDart, taxi and ride-hail are not formalised as an access channel. Without a mapped drop-off zone, operating windows, and clear instructions, non-car attendees cannot plan with confidence, and drivers cannot predict what is permitted.
Public access is not “bring your own driver”
A common reply is that a person without a car can ask, or pay, someone to drive them. That is not a workable definition of “public access.” It shifts the barrier onto the attendee, and it makes participation dependent on personal networks and additional cost. For Friday Twilight, the no re-entry rule amplifies this problem: someone cannot be dropped off and picked up later, so an attendee without a car may have to cover the driver’s full time, fuel, and often a second admission ticket. That is unequal access in practice. Accessibility policy is grounded in removing barriers through universal design and reasonable accommodation, not requiring some residents to purchase extra support in order to participate in a publicly marketed event.
For a City-owned venue and permitted event, “public access” is not just a technical question of whether a membership is required. B.C. law prohibits discrimination in services customarily available to the public, and provincial accessibility legislation expects public bodies to identify, remove, and prevent barriers using universal design, rather than shifting the burden onto individuals to purchase private workarounds.
Accessible British Columbia Regulation, B.C. Reg. 105/2022, s 3(b)(iv) (municipalities).
A low-cost, operationally realistic fix for 2026
If the City’s concern is night-time egress and security, the solution is not a blanket restriction. It is managed access.
Here is a practical 2026 package:
What I am asking the City to do
If Abbotsford wants to be an inclusive city in practice, then a publicly supported signature event should not be designed around private vehicle access only.
Why this matters: human rights and findings from the literature
Accessibility includes the journey to the venue, not only on-site features like ramps and washrooms. Major-event research treats transport access as part of whether a public event is meaningfully open to the community.
BC law reinforces that point. Under section 8 of the BC Human Rights Code, services customarily available to the public must be provided without disability-based discrimination, and service providers are expected to accommodate to the point of undue hardship.
The Friday Twilight program is currently communicated as vehicle-entry only, with no pedestrian entry and no pick-up or drop-off. In practice, that excludes people who cannot drive, including many people with disabilities.
Safety and congestion are not automatic justifications for exclusion. The Supreme Court of Canada’s Grismer decision confirms that even where safety is the goal, standards must still be designed to accommodate disability where that can be done without undue hardship.
Managed access is the normal solution, shuttles, safe lit walking routes, and clear drop-off zones. If the City wants Friday to be “public” in practice, non-car access cannot be treated as optional.
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If the City’s concern is night-time egress and security, the solution is not a blanket restriction. It is managed access.
Here is a practical 2026 package:
- Reinstate a Friday shuttle aligned to key hubs, including Bourquin and Highstreet, timed to the Twilight entry and exit window, and coordinated with the FVX.
- Formalise a Friday walk-in corridor with lighting, signage, and staffed wayfinding, so pedestrian access is safe and predictable.
- Provide secure bike parking or a bike valet at the walk-in gate to support cycling without creating clutter at entrances.
- Designate and publish taxi and ride-hail zones with clear maps and time windows, so drop-offs do not become improvisation.
- Publish one unified “How to Get to Friday Twilight” page at least one month ahead, mirrored across City, Airshow, Tourism Abbotsford and BC Transit channels, with maps, hours, and the same instructions everywhere.
What I am asking the City to do
- Require non-car access as a permit condition for Friday.
- Require public-facing information early enough for residents to plan, including maps, hours, and procedures.
- Stop relying on shifting explanations. If the concern is safety, say so clearly, show the evidence, and publish the mitigation plan that preserves safe public access.
Why this matters: human rights and findings from the literature
Accessibility includes the journey to the venue, not only on-site features like ramps and washrooms. Major-event research treats transport access as part of whether a public event is meaningfully open to the community.
BC law reinforces that point. Under section 8 of the BC Human Rights Code, services customarily available to the public must be provided without disability-based discrimination, and service providers are expected to accommodate to the point of undue hardship.
The Friday Twilight program is currently communicated as vehicle-entry only, with no pedestrian entry and no pick-up or drop-off. In practice, that excludes people who cannot drive, including many people with disabilities.
Safety and congestion are not automatic justifications for exclusion. The Supreme Court of Canada’s Grismer decision confirms that even where safety is the goal, standards must still be designed to accommodate disability where that can be done without undue hardship.
Managed access is the normal solution, shuttles, safe lit walking routes, and clear drop-off zones. If the City wants Friday to be “public” in practice, non-car access cannot be treated as optional.
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