Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Fare hikes effective July 1, 2009

OCTranspo.com has announced a series of fare hikes for OC Transpo rides, including the following:

  • No increase to cash fares
  • Bus tickets go up from $1 to $1.15 each
  • O-Train fare increases 25¢ to $2.50
  • Community Pass price unchanged
There are also a series of changs in bus pass fares, mostly going up:

  • Adult Regular: New $84.75 (Old $81.00)
  • Adult Express: New $106.00 (Old $101.00)
  • Adult Rural Express: New $131.75 (Old $126.00)
  • Adult Regular Annual: New $895.00 (Old $874.80)
  • Adult Express Annual: New $1,119.00 (Old $1,090.80)
  • Student Regular: New $65.25 (Old $62.65)
  • Student Express: New $76.50 (Old $73.40)
  • Student Rural Express: New $103.00 (Old $98.75)
  • Student Regular Semester: New $242.00 (Old $232.25)
  • Student Express Semester: New $283.50 (Old $271.90)
  • Student Regular Annual: New $626.40 (Old $601.44)
  • Student Express Annual: New $734.40 (Old $704.64)
  • Senior 65+ Monthly: New $31.75 (Old $30.40)
  • Senior 65+ Annual: New $381.00 (Old $364.80)
  • DayPass (purchased on the bus): New $7.00 (Old $7.25)
  • ECOPASS Adult Regular: New $74.58 (Old $69.66)
  • ECOPASS Adult Express: New $93.28 (Old $86.86)
  • ECOPASS Adult Rural Express: New $115.94 (Old $108.36)
Fares for a daypass, when purchased on the bus, are the only ones to drop: By a quarter, from $7.25 to an even seven bucks. The largest net increase is $29.76 for a Student Express Annual pass, although that is deceptive because it would be spaced over twelve months; The largest increase calculated by month is for a ECOPASS Adult Rural Express, which will be going up $7.58 per month.

Thoughts on the fare increase? Any peculiarities or problems that visitors notice with these numbers?

7 comments:

Bob said...

Is there an easy way to see a history of OC Transpo fares? Even better, a way of comparing OCT's history of fares with other major transit authorities?

Peter Raaymakers said...

Seven and a half months ago I posted an exploration about how Ottawa stacked up with other Canadian cities' transit fares, and it was generally pretty even--with some exceptions. Check it out here, although it is now a little outdated.

Anonymous said...

One thing I noticed is that it's now $0.36 cheaper (over a year) for me to buy an annual express pass rather than my ECOPASS express pass. They seem to keep lowering the percentage discounts for ECOPASSes and student passes. I never understood why it's so much cheaper for seniors than it is for students.
Why wouldn't they increase cash fares at the same time? So now regular users (passholders and ticket-buyers) are paying more than occasional users. It doesn't make sense.

Unknown said...

Cash fares haven't increased since Dec 2009. This is an insult to those who rely and support public transit. It's time to increase the cash fare and offset some of the cost being dumped on regular users.

Anonymous said...

I have a big problem with the changes in fare that are upcoming. This is especially brutal for the student population, not to mention that now there is going to be an age limit about who is able to get a student OC transpo ID pass.

now, anyone over the age of 27 will be SOL, to to say, which is a disgrace due to the economic crisis that is currently going on, and not to mention that I have met many mature students during my time here at Carleton. This is problematic due to the fact that the city should not be allowed to place an age limit on who is deemed not to receive benefits when today's student needs all the help they can get!

Unknown said...

Setting an age limit on student passes is ageism and is quite obviously illegal (based on the Charter of Rights & Freedoms).

If I were a student, I call upon your student's council to ask them to fight for the rights of ALL students to not be unfairly treated based on the age at which you chose to attend a post-secondary institution. Students are students, at any age.

Anonymous said...

thank you for your comment Derek. I have emailed my student union, as well as my city council member. I encourage all other students who are in the same boat to do the same as well.