Transit fare hike hits Ottawa on New Year’s Day

Commuters who rely on the capital’s transit system will have to pay more to board OC Transpo buses and the O-Train this year.

In a bid to help shore up a budget gap with the city’s transit service, city council approved a 2.5 per cent fare hike as part of the 2024 budget.

A motion to put a freeze on the hike was defeated in December.

Here are the new OC Transpo prices:

• Cash fare for adults went up from $3.75 to $3.85
• Paying by card has jumped from $3.70 to $3.80
• A day pass increased from $11.25 to $11.75
• The adult monthly pass is up from $125.50 to $128.75
• Youths (13 to 19) will pay $99.25 for a pass, up from $97.75
• Senior month passes are going from $47.25 to $49.00

The prices of the EquiPass, Community Pass and Access Pass remain frozen for 2024. Kids aged 12 and under still ride free.

In 2023, a dearth of riders left Ottawa’s transit service with a $50-million budget gap according to OC Transpo’s General Manager Renée Amilcar in November.

“Fares help pay for buses, fuel, employee wages, bus shelters, system improvements and much more,” said OC Transpo staff. “[The hike will] offset increased operating costs of providing transit services.”

Despite the fare increase, the transit system is also planning to cut its bus service by 74,000 hours across the city this year, though Amilcar assured that many customers shouldn’t see much of a difference in their daily trips, according to a memo sent to council in November.

Part of the service cuts Amilcar laid out included axing many of the 200-series routes between residential neighbourhoods and O-Train stations as well as changes to bus routes through residential streets with low ridership.

The last OC Transpo fare hike was also a 2.5 per cent increase in 2022.