VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – TransLink is offering early retirement packages to some 40 maintenance workers.

It’s part of the transit authority’s efforts to cut spending.

TransLink’s Derek Zabel says they hired many skilled trade workers when the authority was planning to expand service, but expansion is no longer in the works.

“We were aggressive in trying to bring skilled people on, but we are not going to be expanding service, so we have to bring that number down,” he explains.

Last month, the transit operator announced deep cuts to its ambitious expansion plans, including the elimination of three quarters of the new service hours it had planned to add to bus routes across the region.

TransLink is having to find savings to the tune of $47 million a year.

“We are trying to find efficiencies. We are trying to do things better. We are trying to think outside the box. We are trying to change the strategies. We are trying to work smarter and better,” says Zabel.

Meanwhile, mayors are still discussing how to raise more money for TransLink after they turned down the idea of increasing property taxes.