OC Transpo's youth fare cancellation criticized
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Her youngest child is 11, the age when he would start taking some transit trips on his own and exploring Ottawa, but OC Transpo 's cancellation of the youth fare pass will make that journey more difficult.
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OC Transpo will eliminate the discounted youth monthly transit pass as of Sept. 1, and those aged 11 to 19 will, from that point on, be charged the same price as adults. Fare hikes of five per cent took place in January 2025, due to a $120-million transit shortfall.
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De Sousa's family only has one car, which her husband uses to travel to work every day. She says they've scheduled their lives around having one vehicle and she often bikes or uses transit to commute around the city.
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But De Sousa says public transit is not convenient enough anymore because of longer routes (which she credits to the New Ways to Bus system) and the financial aspect, such as increased fares and the youth fare cancellation.
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'It's definitely going to have a financial impact on us as a family, having to pay more,' she said. 'If they don't have access to transit to get places … It's going to eat into my time to take them places.
'It also doesn't foster their own independence in being able to move around their city.'
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De Sousa says her oldest child, who is 19, has had to turn down job prospects because of the fare changes. Previously they used public transit twice a day to get to and from school.
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'There's just no transit available for them to get to in a reasonable time and for a reasonable amount of money to get to the job,' she said.
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Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs, a public information officer with the City of Ottawa, said in an Aug. 5 statement to the Citizen that some youths would be eligible to receive a Student Transit Pass through their school boards instead of acquiring youth passes.
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'During the winter 2024 semester, over 85 per cent of Youth Passes were sold to school boards and not to individual customers,' she wrote. 'In early 2025, fewer than 100 individual customers purchased the Youth Pass themselves each month.'
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Coun. Sean Devine, representing Knoxdale-Merivale ward, said he didn't support the transit budget or its various elements, including elimination of the youth fare. OC Transpo's 2024 gross operating budget was $768 million. The budget for 2025 is $856 million.
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CBC
7 hours ago
- CBC
Scrapping youth transit pass 'shameful,' says group behind email campaign
Social Sharing Nearly 800 people have sent emails calling on OC Transpo to rescind a decision to scrap the youth monthly transit pass, according to a progressive advocacy group that's launched a campaign against the decision. In a memo late last month, the city announced that — as of Sept. 1 — the pass would be eliminated, part of cost-cutting measures to reduce the $120-million deficit in the 2025 budget. It currently costs $104 a month, compared to $135 for an adult pass. Horizon Ottawa launched its campaign on Thursday, saying the decision would result in Ottawa's youth paying some of the highest fares in the country and would diverge from policies of other big Canadian cities where youth discounts are common. "It's shameful that now youth are having to pay as much as an adult," Horizon Ottawa board member Sam Hersh told Radio-Canada. "The fact that close to 800 people have already sent emails signifies that people aren't just frustrated with this particular policy, but they're frustrated in general with the transit system." The root cause of the deficit, Hersh said, is "decades of cuts" to transit funding. "We need to start investing in our transit system, not cutting it." In a statement to Radio-Canada, the city said provincially funded school boards purchase about 92 per cent of all monthly youth passes, an average of 19,100 a month. Those students would continue receiving a monthly pass from their school at no cost, the city said. About 1,700 customers who purchased the youth pass themselves would no longer be able to do so, the statement said. But student transit passes purchased by school boards aren't available in the summer months or for students who live too close to their school, said Laura Shantz, a public transport advocate. "That would be the situation for my family," she told Radio-Canada. "We'll start to rethink whether my child needs a bus pass the entire school year or only the months where it's not pleasant to walk or bike or get to school in other ways." The additional $30 a month for an adult monthly pass is a lot for some families, she added. Pass likely won't be saved, says councillor "We acknowledge that this change may result in increased costs for some families who are ineligible to receive a student transit pass from their school," said David Jones, the team lead for transit media relations, in the city's statement. Other options remain available, he said, including the EquiPass, a discounted monthly transit pass and single-ride fare option for low income families. Horizon Ottawa's campaign is unlikely to cause the city to reverse its decision, according to Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr. "I haven't had the chance to speak to my colleagues or to OC Transport staff to see if there's any opportunity to change it before September, I would suspect no," said Carr, who sits on the transit committee. "But it is something that I think many people around the council table want to make sure that we look after in our upcoming discussions of budget 2026."
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
OC Transpo scrapping youth fares on Sept. 1: Here's how transit fares for youth compare across Canada
Ottawa youth will be paying the highest monthly transit fares in Canada this fall, as OC Transpo hits the brakes on offering discounted youth passes. The youth monthly pass for 11- to 19-year-olds will be scrapped at the end of August, as part of OC Transpo's plan to boost revenue to address a projected budget shortfall. As of Sept. 1, youth ages 11- to 19-year-olds will have to pay the adult monthly pass of $135 a month, instead of the current youth monthly pass cost of $104 a month. A look at transit fares across Canada shows transit riders ages 11 to 19 in Ottawa will be paying the highest transit fares for a month in Canada at $135 a month. The Toronto Transit Commission offers a monthly transit pass for 13- to 19-year-olds at $128.15 a month, while Brampton Transit offers a pass for $118 a month for 13–19-year-olds and a monthly pass of $84 a month for 6- to 12-year-olds. In Gatineau, the cost a monthly transit pass for 13- to 20-year-olds is $69 a month, while Kingston Transit offers a transit pass of $61.75 a month for 15- to 24-year-olds. Council approved the elimination of the youth pass as part of the 2025 budget. 'I voted against this,' Capital Coun. Shawn Menard said on X. 'This isn't 'fixing transit'. Instead of this, Ottawa should have a universal bus pass for youth 18 and under to build lifelong transit users.' Children ages 10 and under can still ride OC Transpo for free in Ottawa. In Ottawa, many students receive OC Transpo passes from the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority for travel to schools. A report for the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority shows the 2025-26 draft budget projected a $4.8 million increase in public transit costs due to the elimination of free transit for students 12 and under and scrapping the youth fare pass in September. The cost of youth transit fares across Canada
Ottawa Citizen
4 days ago
- Ottawa Citizen
OC Transpo's youth fare cancellation criticized
As the parent of two children, Katy de Sousa worries about how they will explore their independence. Article content Her youngest child is 11, the age when he would start taking some transit trips on his own and exploring Ottawa, but OC Transpo 's cancellation of the youth fare pass will make that journey more difficult. Article content Article content OC Transpo will eliminate the discounted youth monthly transit pass as of Sept. 1, and those aged 11 to 19 will, from that point on, be charged the same price as adults. Fare hikes of five per cent took place in January 2025, due to a $120-million transit shortfall. Article content Article content De Sousa's family only has one car, which her husband uses to travel to work every day. She says they've scheduled their lives around having one vehicle and she often bikes or uses transit to commute around the city. Article content Article content But De Sousa says public transit is not convenient enough anymore because of longer routes (which she credits to the New Ways to Bus system) and the financial aspect, such as increased fares and the youth fare cancellation. Article content 'It's definitely going to have a financial impact on us as a family, having to pay more,' she said. 'If they don't have access to transit to get places … It's going to eat into my time to take them places. 'It also doesn't foster their own independence in being able to move around their city.' Article content De Sousa says her oldest child, who is 19, has had to turn down job prospects because of the fare changes. Previously they used public transit twice a day to get to and from school. Article content Article content 'There's just no transit available for them to get to in a reasonable time and for a reasonable amount of money to get to the job,' she said. Article content Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs, a public information officer with the City of Ottawa, said in an Aug. 5 statement to the Citizen that some youths would be eligible to receive a Student Transit Pass through their school boards instead of acquiring youth passes. Article content 'During the winter 2024 semester, over 85 per cent of Youth Passes were sold to school boards and not to individual customers,' she wrote. 'In early 2025, fewer than 100 individual customers purchased the Youth Pass themselves each month.' Article content Coun. Sean Devine, representing Knoxdale-Merivale ward, said he didn't support the transit budget or its various elements, including elimination of the youth fare. OC Transpo's 2024 gross operating budget was $768 million. The budget for 2025 is $856 million.
