Thursday, October 16, 2008

OC Transpo to increase service for '09

After the city announced the possibility of cutting service due to budgetary concerns for 2008, OC Transpo officials decided that an increase of service by 5.37 per cent is necessary for 2009 to keep up with growing demand, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

The Citizen said that the increase was part of OC Transpo's overall marketing plan:
The boost in service levels is part of the company's 2009 marketing plan, which is designed to help the company recover 50 per cent of its operating costs from fares, city council's goal for the company.

The company is going to try to encourage use of the system outside of rush hour by offering expanding family day pass opportunities, encourage the use of routes that don't use the transit way, and improve trip planning services.
Sounds like a good idea; as profitable as overflowing buses at peak times can be, I'm sure a lot of empty buses in the evenings cuts into that margin significantly.

Along with the service increases, OC Transpo is also planning a series of fare increases, as reported on TransitOttawa yesterday. Average fares are to increase by 7.5 per cent, with much of that coming from a 15 per cent increase in pre-paid ticket costs.

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