There has been discussion over the past several weeks related to the student age requirement for public transit in Ottawa.
As chair of the City of Ottawa’s Transit Commission, I would like to reinforce the strong commitment of the Transit Commission and OC Transpo to work with local colleges, universities, and other educational institutions to provide students with accessible and sustainable transit services within the reality of the City and taxpayers’ financial means.
The decision to set the student age between 13 and 19 years was made almost 16 months ago by the Transit Commission and city council. This decision was part of a larger review of the fare structure for OC Transpo. The goal of this review was to ensure the city balanced the need for accessible and affordable public transit with ongoing sustainability now and well into the future.
Over the past few years the Transit Commission and council have undertaken the important responsibility of realigning our transit system towards a viable and sustainable financial future for everyone.
Important investments and difficult decisions have been made by the Transit Commission and council to achieve this goal. This includes the building of a light rail system and the construction of the Confederation Line, the expansion of the O-Train service, the introduction of the transferable PRESTO card, negotiating the U-Pass for three post-secondary institutions, streamlining the route network, the integration of double-decker buses into our regular service, and ensuring an up-to-date fare system that supports these initiatives.
City council voted to endorse the Transit Commission’s fare structure as part of the 2012 and 2013 budget processes. The city’s fiscal framework has established a target of transit fares recovering 55 per cent of costs. The estimated cost of eliminating the student age cap is $2.9 million.
A change to a single fare category would impact fares in all other fare categories either by reducing service levels or by hiking fares for all transit users. The Transit Commission is not in the position to absorb $2.9 million in discounts for student fares.
Ottawa is not unique in establishing eligibility standards for discounted fares, including those available to students. Other municipalities such as Kingston, Hamilton, Oakville, Vancouver, Burlington, York Region, and Calgary also align their eligibility for student discounted fares to a maximum age of 19 or younger.
For post-secondary students, OC Transpo offers the U-Pass program as a proven discounted fare system that works. The U-Pass is a transit pass that costs $184.50 per term for full-time students of all ages during the school year. That amounts to a cost of $46.13 per month for those students during the eight months of the school year and age is not a restriction.
Students at Carleton University, University of Ottawa, and Saint Paul University have all held referendums to affirm their support for the U-Pass. Their choice was clear: the U-Pass is the best transit option for students. Now nearly 55,000 students from these three universities use the U-Pass during the regular school year and benefit from the public transit system.
OC Transpo is prepared to consider implementing the U-Pass program to the summer semester as long as it is financially viable and if evidence of a positive vote in this regard is provided to OC Transpo by the post-secondary institutions.
OC Transpo and the Transit Commission are strong supporters of extending the U-Pass to all of Ottawa’s post-secondary institutions as this would provide all full-time students with an attractive public transit option which is cost neutral to taxpayers in the City of Ottawa.
I want to note that Ottawa has an excellent transit system, one that ranks among North America’s finest. OC Transpo provides a comprehensive transit service and delivers nearly 100 million trips annually. The OC Transpo fleet has over 1,000 buses, nine trains, and in the coming years will add electrified light rapid transit service to its system. Customer service is one of OC Transpo’s top priorities and we will continue our commitment to deliver safe, reliable quality service to our customers every day.
Diane Deans
Chair, Ottawa Transit Commission
