Transit fares to increase average of 2.5%
Posted Dec 5, 2017 06:45:00 AM.
Last Updated Dec 5, 2017 07:44:07 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA — Riding the bus or O-Train is on-track to get a little more expensive in the new year, with fares set to increase by an average of two-and-a-half per cent.
The transit commission has signed off on its 2018 budget, which includes increases to the cost of cash fares and monthly passes.
- Adult cash fare increases from $3.45 to $3.50
- Adult monthly pass increases from $113.75 to $116.50
- Student monthly pass increases from $87.75 $89.75
- EquiPass monthly pass increases from $57.00 to $58.25
The budget also includes an EquiPass single-ride fare of $1.75.
The average increase to transit fares and the transit levy on property tax bills is 2.5 per cent. The city’s long-term financial plans include increasing transit fares by that percentage each year.
“I think people would much prefer a reasonable, small change every year, to avoid those big increases every once in a while,” said Cumberland Councillor Stephen Blais, transit commission chair. He points to fare freezes in the past, accompanied by much larger increases.
Blais says the increases are needed to help pay for the system, especially as OC Transpo begins service on the LRT’s east-west Confederation Line sometime next year.
The increases are expected to be approved by city council when it meets next week.
