Latest news with #HorizonOttawa
Yahoo
10-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Scrapping youth transit pass 'shameful,' says group behind email campaign
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."
CBC
10-08-2025
- Politics
- 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."
Ottawa Citizen
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Pellerin: Ottawa People's Summit shares ideas for a better city
Maybe I'm too optimistic for my own good, but I have a feeling we'll look back on this time as when people power was born. In the United States, so many Americans are organizing to resist abuses coming from the White House. We don't have Donald Trump in the capital of #Never51, thank goodness, but enough of us are sick and tired of being unheard when it comes to making this the best city it can be that we're organizing. Article content Article content Article content On Tuesday evening, I was downtown for the first People's Summit, put together by Better Ottawa and supported Horizon Ottawa as well as by other community organizations including a few I've written about before, such as Ottawa Community Land Trust and the Urbanism Book Club. Article content The sold-out crowd packed Impact Hub on Slater Street. This in itself was impressive given that the event wasn't advertised very much, and there was a $25 admission fee. Organizer Neil Saravanamuttoo told me he was hoping for 30 or maybe 40 people. Nearly 100 bought a ticket, including Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, who said he went to listen. Article content People came for different reasons, including networking with like-minded folks and debating issues that are front of mind. I walked around the room listening to conversations, and I heard 'Lansdowne' mentioned more than once. Urban gardening and LRT were often heard, too. Article content Article content Mostly I think people came because, as Saravanamuttoo said in his opening remarks to enthusiastic applause, 'we love this city, but we don't like what's happening at City Hall, and we want to do something about it.' Article content Article content The crowd was treated to a live recording of the Better Ottawa Municipal Panel with the fantastic duo of municipal journalism experts Joanne Chianello and Jon Willing. They answered questions from the audience covering subjects such as leadership, engagement, security, public bathrooms (or rather, the ever-frustrating lack thereof), and why councillors' emails often provide better information than anything the city puts out, regardless of platform. Article content Events such as this People's Summit help address a challenge that activists often face when dealing with a large city that is so bureaucratic it moves at a glacial pace — when it moves at all, that is. It takes years to approve simple changes like allowing residents to grow carrots in their front yard. Now imagine more complicated matters like, I don't know, running a transit system that works or building sidewalks that aren't full of badly patched cracks.
Ottawa Citizen
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa City Hall rolling out 'hostile' new security measures
Article content Tom Ledgley, a coordinator with local advocacy group Horizon Ottawa, called the new security measures extremely problematic and hostile because it is a barrier for residents who want to make their voices heard in council chambers or with their councillors. Article content In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Ledgley said the measures give the impression that the city does not want to be scrutinized in a public forum. Article content '(City staff) are not coming out with really strong evidence for why this is necessary. To us, it really sends a bad message at a particularly bad time. It's telling folks that they're not welcome and discouraging people from showing up to city hall in person to do things like deliver delegations,' Ledgley said. Article content The advocate also called the new security measures 'invasive,' especially for people from communities which have been historically marginalized by law enforcement. These communities already face a lot of barriers trying to make their voices heard in council chambers, he said. Article content Article content 'A lot of these people are the ones that we really should be hearing from at these public meetings, and these people are going to especially be the ones who are discouraged from showing up,' Ledgley added. Article content 'When you tell people that there's going to be extra security and we're putting them through metal detectors, it gives the impression that (the city is) trying to find something they're doing wrong. That can be really stressful for people.' Article content Article content But most importantly, Ledgley said Ottawans will be losing a public space. City Hall was designed by famed architect Raymond Moriyama to be open and spacious, drawing in thousands of people weekly. Around 35,000 people pass through the building each week, and another 1,000 people work in the building. Article content On any given day, high schoolers can be seen walking through the halls to grab food and snacks during lunch break. Tourists and visitors often stop and admire the art installations inside the building. Others are grabbing coffee in the cafe or getting paperwork sorted at the Service Ontario office inside. Article content 'I don't speak on behalf of every resident of the city, but to me, that feels really hostile. I just really don't like that feeling walking in there (with the enhanced security measures),' Ledgley said.
