Senior fare hike to be further reduced in new transit plan coming to council

A new plan to soften Ottawa's steep transit fare hikes for seniors is taking shape, and it's expected to be more generous than what passed at transit commission weeks ago.

Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney said he's been working with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe as well as councillors Glen Gower, Jeff Leiper and Jessica Bradley on the plan, which he expects will get wide support when council votes on the city budget on Wednesday.

"We've heard first-hand from our seniors and that has not gone on deaf ears. So take it to the bank — there will be further reductions," said Tierney.

"If you don't vote for this, good luck in 2026, in the next election cycle, because this is exactly what the public has been saying."

Gower, who chairs the city's transit commission, confirmed that "we are all working on a compromise on seniors' fares."

City staff had initially proposed hiking the cost of the seniors' transit pass from $49 to $108 per month as part of a slate of measures to fill a $120-million transit deficit. Last month, transit commission voted to limit the increase to $78.50.

"I feel very confident it won't remain at the number we left it at," Tierney explained. "I fully anticipate seniors will be quite happy at the end of the day about a further reduction. What that number is is yet to be presented. We're still crunching numbers."

At transit commission, Bradley proposed limiting the increase to $58.25 per month, the same price as an EquiPass available to low-income people. But she wanted to use a slight property tax increase to pay for it — a move beyond the authority of the commission — so the idea was punted to Wednesday's council meeting.

Tierney said the new plan has a different funding solution, though he would not reveal how it would cover the cost.

Competing proposals on youth fares

City staff also recommended eliminating a fare discount for youth, which would push up the cost of a monthly pass for riders ages 13 to 19 from $99.25 to $135. Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine tried to reverse that hike at transit commission, though his motion relied on a tax hike and was also put on ice.

As talks continue, Tierney said the youth fare issue hasn't been forgotten, nor has the pushback over a five per cent hike to the U-Pass for university students. But he said both those questions will take longer to iron out.

Leiper confirmed there are "a ton of conversations" now happening on all three issues: youth passes, seniors passes and the U-Pass.

"I expect things will keep changing behind the scenes over the next two days," he said on Monday. "I'm very hopeful for some compromises."

Gower said there are "tweaks" in the works for both U-Pass and youth fares. He said the funding offset for both, as well as the compromise on seniors fares, has not yet been identified — but he said it won't come via higher property taxes.

Devine's motion on youth fares is set to come back to council as well, but he told CBC he plans to replace it with a more narrowly focused motion on Wednesday, one that would raise taxes by about 56 cents for the average homeowner. 

While many students get transit passes through their school boards, about 1,060 youth pay out of pocket. Devine's new motion would only cover them, limiting their fare increase to five per cent.

"If this budget passes without any redress, they are each going to be paying $429 more per year," he said. "To me, not only is that unfair, that would be, by a long shot, the biggest single impact on any demographic."