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Residents pushing OC Transpo to offer a low-income pass will get another kick at the can Wednesday as the transit commission debates a new, management-endorsed fare table.
The commission has already decided to pass the issue off to the province because Queen’s Park is responsible for funding social services.
However, dropping the issue on the shoulders of the province isn’t enough to satisfy some low-income earners in Ottawa who rely on Transpo. With the commission considering a new LRT-era fare table Wednesday, residents have one last shot at convincing Transpo to create a low-income pass.
Commissioners, and eventually council, would need to gauge the transit riders’ appetite for paying a bit more each month to help low-income customers afford a pass.
In case the commission starts toying with the idea of plugging a low-income pass into a new fare table, Transpo has crafted three options for commissioners to consider. The options would all pass a $3.3-million burden to different fare categories to fund a deep discount on a low-income pass.
One option could be hiking the prices of monthly passes for other riders who already receive a discount so that a low-income pass would cost $41.75. Where seniors currently receive a 62-per-cent discount, the rate would decease to 50 per cent. A youth pass would go from a 23-per-cent discount to an 11-per-cent discount, and a proposed “access pass” for Para Transpo customers not on disability assistance would have a 51-per-cent discount rather than a 63-per-cent discount.
Transpo uses the regular adult monthly pass, costing $112.25 in 2017 under the draft fare table, as a baseline for the discounts.
Another option is to increase the prices of all passes by 3.7 per cent to make a low-income pass priced at $43.50.
The last option is to only increase the regular adult pass by 5.2 per cent to make a low-income pass cost $41.75. It would effectively give all the discounted passes an even larger discount, but the adult pass would jump to $118.25.
The regular adult pass customers are an important revenue source for Transpo. They are the largest category of pass holders and there’s a risk of pushing them away from Transpo if the monthly prices grow. As it is, the draft fare table proposes to increase the adult monthly pass by $6.50 in 2017, and that’s before any inflationary increases are applied January 1.
The commission will probably have a discussion on price elasticity of the proposed fares – that is, how much more are riders willing to pay for Transpo before they chose other modes of travel?
Transpo can’t afford to see another decrease in ridership, especially two years away from launching the Confederation Line LRT. By Transpo’s own admission, there’s no guarantee that LRT will increase ridership, even if it will be a faster, more convenient way to get through the downtown at peak periods.
The Transpo-recommended baseline fare table
Single rides
Adult e-purse (Presto) fare: $3.30
Seniors e-purse fare: $2.50
Child e-purse fare: $1.65
Adult cash fare: $3.35
Seniors cash fare: $2.55
Child cash fare: $1.70
Discounted Para Transpo fare with new Access pass: $2.20
Rural Para Transpo fare: $9.00
Monthly passes
Adult: $112.25
Youth: $86.50
Seniors: $42.75
Community pass: $41.75
Access pass: $41.75
Other passes
U-pass (per semester): $197.52
Day pass: $10.00
查看原文...
The commission has already decided to pass the issue off to the province because Queen’s Park is responsible for funding social services.
However, dropping the issue on the shoulders of the province isn’t enough to satisfy some low-income earners in Ottawa who rely on Transpo. With the commission considering a new LRT-era fare table Wednesday, residents have one last shot at convincing Transpo to create a low-income pass.
Commissioners, and eventually council, would need to gauge the transit riders’ appetite for paying a bit more each month to help low-income customers afford a pass.
In case the commission starts toying with the idea of plugging a low-income pass into a new fare table, Transpo has crafted three options for commissioners to consider. The options would all pass a $3.3-million burden to different fare categories to fund a deep discount on a low-income pass.
One option could be hiking the prices of monthly passes for other riders who already receive a discount so that a low-income pass would cost $41.75. Where seniors currently receive a 62-per-cent discount, the rate would decease to 50 per cent. A youth pass would go from a 23-per-cent discount to an 11-per-cent discount, and a proposed “access pass” for Para Transpo customers not on disability assistance would have a 51-per-cent discount rather than a 63-per-cent discount.
Transpo uses the regular adult monthly pass, costing $112.25 in 2017 under the draft fare table, as a baseline for the discounts.
Another option is to increase the prices of all passes by 3.7 per cent to make a low-income pass priced at $43.50.
The last option is to only increase the regular adult pass by 5.2 per cent to make a low-income pass cost $41.75. It would effectively give all the discounted passes an even larger discount, but the adult pass would jump to $118.25.
The regular adult pass customers are an important revenue source for Transpo. They are the largest category of pass holders and there’s a risk of pushing them away from Transpo if the monthly prices grow. As it is, the draft fare table proposes to increase the adult monthly pass by $6.50 in 2017, and that’s before any inflationary increases are applied January 1.
The commission will probably have a discussion on price elasticity of the proposed fares – that is, how much more are riders willing to pay for Transpo before they chose other modes of travel?
Transpo can’t afford to see another decrease in ridership, especially two years away from launching the Confederation Line LRT. By Transpo’s own admission, there’s no guarantee that LRT will increase ridership, even if it will be a faster, more convenient way to get through the downtown at peak periods.
The Transpo-recommended baseline fare table
Single rides
Adult e-purse (Presto) fare: $3.30
Seniors e-purse fare: $2.50
Child e-purse fare: $1.65
Adult cash fare: $3.35
Seniors cash fare: $2.55
Child cash fare: $1.70
Discounted Para Transpo fare with new Access pass: $2.20
Rural Para Transpo fare: $9.00
Monthly passes
Adult: $112.25
Youth: $86.50
Seniors: $42.75
Community pass: $41.75
Access pass: $41.75
Other passes
U-pass (per semester): $197.52
Day pass: $10.00
查看原文...
