LISTEN: City will proceed with electric bus procurement despite concerns, calls on feds to cover transit deficit for 2022
Posted Mar 24, 2022 03:08:38 PM.
The chair of Ottawa's transit commission says it is difficult to predict whether OC Transpo will run a budget deficit this year because there is no clear timeline yet on when federal public servants will return to offices downtown.
Kanata South councillor Allan Hubley told CityNews council will hear the first updated ridership numbers in 2022 at the next transit commission meeting on March 30.
The transit budget for this year was calculated based on a return of 82% of pre-pandemic ridership levels, but based on the first three months of the year Hubley thinks it's unlikely that level will be reached.
“If I gave you a guess I'd say it's probably something between 30 and 50 per cent,” said Hubley. “It's all tied to what the federal government does.”
Listen to the full segment on from Thursday, March 24 on The Rob Snow Show below:
