Surrey council candidate pledges lower taxi fees and bus-lane access

Ashiyana Hanif, a Surrey broadcaster and founder of Media Waves Live, is running for Surrey City Council with Imagine Surrey. She began hosting radio shows for Surrey’s Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu communities in 1992 and opened her own station in 2015. Hanif says many people listening to her shows at 2 p.m. are in taxis. She knows drivers waiting in airport queues, including those who have paid for a licence, inspection and dispatch fee but have yet to pick up a fare.

Hanif says taxi drivers joined a system that was supposed to be regulated, but the rules later changed. Their costs did not fall, their days got longer and their work got harder. She points to King George Boulevard, where a driver with a passenger may be stopped at a red light beside a bus lane taxis cannot use. Riders face the delay too, including a senior in Newton who needs a ride to Surrey Memorial Hospital but does not have a ride-hailing app, and a family returning late from the gurdwara on a Saturday. They pay for every minute spent in traffic, she says.

If elected, Hanif pledges to let taxis use bus lanes where and when it makes sense, and to reduce licensing costs and paperwork. She says an empty bus lane is wasted space and taxis carry people paying to get somewhere. Surrey City Hall controls business licences, fees and application requirements, she says. Lower costs and less red tape would let more drivers operate and help keep fares competitive.

Hanif says the same municipal political parties have run City Hall without delivering for the taxi industry. Drivers have asked for changes, but she says none of the legacy parties has acted. She has heard drivers make the request on her radio show and says that is why she is running. Changing a bylaw would cost almost nothing, she says, but it has not been done. Hanif also criticizes Surrey City Council for approving a $360-million arena project downtown behind closed doors. She says there is always time for a major announcement and photo opportunity, but never time for drivers’ needs.

Hanif says she has lived in Surrey for 40 years and raised three children in Panorama. For three decades, she has put a microphone in front of the people running the city and asked hard questions. She says joining the decision-making table is the faster way to get answers. She urges voters to support Mike Starchuk and the entire Imagine Surrey team on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, and give Surrey’s drivers the break they have earned.