Ottawa transit commission wants to freeze OC Transpo community, child fares

The City of Ottawa's transit commission says it wants to freeze OC Transpo fares for children and people on its Community Pass as part of the city's draft budget.

The draft budget includes a 2.5 per cent fare increase but numbers released on Friday show exactly which kinds of fares would go up and which would go down if the draft budget is approved.

The monthly Community Pass, which is for people on the Ontario Disability Support Program, would be staying at $41.75 a month.

"People with the community pass are amongst the most vulnerable members of our society and we want to reflect that," said transit commission chair Stephen Blais.

"We understand big increases in transit or even small increases in transit can have a big impact on their day-to-day affordability."

The cash fare for children to ride the bus or O-Train would stay at $1.90, freezes balanced out by hikes in other areas.

For example, people who use their Presto card to pay on a trip-by-trip basis would pay $3 per trip, up 16 cents of 5.6 per cent from the current rate.

"The e-purse fare is going up percentage-wise more than 2.5 per cent, it's a couple cents in real-dollar terms," Blais said.

"The whole table in its totality reflects the need for the 2.5 per cent more revenue to keep the tax increase at the rate city council has asked for."

The fare increases will come up at Thursday's transit commission meeting before the draft budget is voted on by council as a whole.

There is a larger review of OC Transpo's fares in the works with light rail on the horizon, with a report set to be released with recommendations in April, May or June.