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Ottawa residents who live at or below the poverty line may soon qualify for cheaper rides on OC Transpo.
A proposed new low-income pass would offer eligible riders a deep discount on the monthly adult general pass if they live at or below Statistics Canada’s low-income cut-off of approximately $20,000 or less a year for individuals, or an annual income of $38,000 for a family of four.
The low-income transit pass will be offered by OC Transpo as a new type of monthly transit pass and will not be subsidized by increasing the cost of other transit passes, Mayor Jim Watson said Tuesday.
“We believe this is a fairer way to reach more people without harming other pass holders in the OC Transpo family,” he said, standing at a podium emblazoned with a sign that read “Affordable Transit For All.”
But specific details about the new pass — including the cost and revenue stream that will pay for it — won’t be revealed until next month.
“You’ll find out on budget day,” Watson said.
The notion of a low-income pass has percolated at city hall for months.
Earlier this year, OC Transpo crunched the numbers on what such an initiative might mean for the budget.
The cheapest option at $1.3 million would give low-income customers the same 24-per-cent discount teenagers receive for monthly passes, compared to the $103.25 regular adult fee. In that scenario, Ontario Works recipients wouldn’t be eligible if they already receive transportation funding through the social program.
Cutting the price of passes by 62 per cent for low-income customers who don’t already receive a transportation benefit from Ontario Works would cost $3.3 million. It’s an option favoured by advocates of a low-income pass.
The highest cost, $8.2 million, would apply if the city wanted to give all low-income customers a 62-per-cent discount, regardless of whether they already receive breaks from other programs.
There would be an additional $200,000 one-time cost to administer the low-income discounts, according to OC Transpo.
The mayor said he’s heard from people on both sides of the debate — anti-poverty advocates who want such a pass in Ottawa and monthly passholders who don’t want their fares to increase in order to pay for it.
“It was a balancing act and I think what we’ve landed on and what you’ll see in November is a very fair proposal that offers a discount to those people who least can afford to take the bus,” he said.
Some 8,800 low-income transit users could benefit from the new pass, he added.
The new pass will “help us create an even more affordable city” for unemployed people, single parents and recent immigrants, said transit commission chairman Stephen Blais.
The city initially asked the province to pay for the low-income transit pass, but has so far received no indication that such funding may ever materialize.
If that changes, Watson said, the city could further reduce the proposed discount, which would go into effect early next year.
mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
A proposed new low-income pass would offer eligible riders a deep discount on the monthly adult general pass if they live at or below Statistics Canada’s low-income cut-off of approximately $20,000 or less a year for individuals, or an annual income of $38,000 for a family of four.
The low-income transit pass will be offered by OC Transpo as a new type of monthly transit pass and will not be subsidized by increasing the cost of other transit passes, Mayor Jim Watson said Tuesday.
“We believe this is a fairer way to reach more people without harming other pass holders in the OC Transpo family,” he said, standing at a podium emblazoned with a sign that read “Affordable Transit For All.”
But specific details about the new pass — including the cost and revenue stream that will pay for it — won’t be revealed until next month.
“You’ll find out on budget day,” Watson said.
The notion of a low-income pass has percolated at city hall for months.
Earlier this year, OC Transpo crunched the numbers on what such an initiative might mean for the budget.
The cheapest option at $1.3 million would give low-income customers the same 24-per-cent discount teenagers receive for monthly passes, compared to the $103.25 regular adult fee. In that scenario, Ontario Works recipients wouldn’t be eligible if they already receive transportation funding through the social program.
Cutting the price of passes by 62 per cent for low-income customers who don’t already receive a transportation benefit from Ontario Works would cost $3.3 million. It’s an option favoured by advocates of a low-income pass.
The highest cost, $8.2 million, would apply if the city wanted to give all low-income customers a 62-per-cent discount, regardless of whether they already receive breaks from other programs.
There would be an additional $200,000 one-time cost to administer the low-income discounts, according to OC Transpo.
The mayor said he’s heard from people on both sides of the debate — anti-poverty advocates who want such a pass in Ottawa and monthly passholders who don’t want their fares to increase in order to pay for it.
“It was a balancing act and I think what we’ve landed on and what you’ll see in November is a very fair proposal that offers a discount to those people who least can afford to take the bus,” he said.
Some 8,800 low-income transit users could benefit from the new pass, he added.
The new pass will “help us create an even more affordable city” for unemployed people, single parents and recent immigrants, said transit commission chairman Stephen Blais.
The city initially asked the province to pay for the low-income transit pass, but has so far received no indication that such funding may ever materialize.
If that changes, Watson said, the city could further reduce the proposed discount, which would go into effect early next year.
mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
