Council to vote on free fare days for minors, longer transfer window | CBC

Media
4 days ago
2 min read

Committee votes to keep OC Transpo fare hike at 2.5% as transit union warns budget repeats mistakes

Unreliable transit service at Tunney's Pasture station, pictured here, leads to long commutes that sometimes force riders to pay twice for a single journey, Coun. David Hill said Monday. He said a longer transfer window addresses the symptom, not the cause. (Stu Mills/CBC)

Ottawa city council will vote on a plan to make OC Transpo free for riders age 18 and under on weekends and holidays, while extending the transfer window to save commuters from paying twice for a single trip.

...

The same motion addresses a major irritant for Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill, who has complained that some of his residents face commutes so long that their last transfer falls outside the 90-minute transfer window, forcing them to pay twice for a single journey.

If it passes at council, Desroches’s motion would increase the window on weekdays from 90 minutes to 105 minutes between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The measure would only last until the LRT extension to Algonquin and Moodie stations opens.

Cyril Rogers, the city's chief financial officer, said he hadn't yet found a funding source for the measures, so the committee couldn't pass them. Council will consider them Dec. 10.

Change expected next year

Hill said the 15-minute transfer extension should be enough, and said the sunset clause makes sense.

"Addressing this issue is important, but it’s only addressing the symptom. The (root cause) is the reliability out of Tunney’s, and a big part of that is the construction that’s going on right now for Stage 2," Hill said at committee on Monday.

Read the entire article here:

Council to vote on free fare days for minors, longer transfer window | CBC News