Ottawa transit riders band against OC Transpo fare hike as 2021 budget nears finalization
A transit rider waits for the O-Train at Rideau Station. [Photo courtesy Dave Laferriere in collaboration with Courage Ottawa & Ottawa Transit Riders]
Jack Lovett, Capital Current
With most OC Transpo fares set to rise on Jan. 1, transit riders and advocate groups opposing the increase are pointing out that Ottawa already has one of the most expensive systems in Canada.
They also say low-income and vulnerable residents, not to mention many front-line workers, will be affected most by the increase. While the city says rates will remain frozen for low-income and vulnerable citizens, advocates claim the community and EquiPass thresholds exclude many and that the eligibility process is demeaning and inefficient. The word “privilege” was used more than once at the November transit commission meeting.
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More progressive and ambitious solutions may not appeal to all committee members, but transit riders have some ideas of their own.
“For years they’ve been able to just go about their job without really worrying about public sentiment,” said Kari Glynes Elliott, co-founder of advocacy group Ottawa Transit Riders. “I think that’s changing.”
The Ottawa Transit Riders first got together last year to fight cuts to line 12 (Blair) in Vanier, and Elliott says they won that battle. Now the fight has shifted from delayed communication and accessibility concerns to keeping the fares stable, or even reduced. But they aren’t alone.
An alliance of 18 Ottawa advocacy groups teamed with an independent economist to produce the Ottawa Coalition for a People’s Budget, an alternative proposal aimed to prove there are better, more sustainable options.
It proposes divestments of $235 million from the police budget and $390 million from planned fossil fuel infrastructure. It also proposes $878 million in additional spending, with 75 per cent going to programs and services (including transit) and 25 per cent toward city capital expenditures.
Elliott says there are many items council could defer or drop, such as the road widening project in Barrhaven.
“The downward spiral of public transit is pretty frustrating,” she said. “It feels like the solutions are really obvious and the people in charge are not interested.”
When asked about some of the challenges that accompany these types of ambitious plans, Counc. Allan Hubley, chair of the transit commission, cited the looming increase to the transit levy as a reasonable burden on the taxpayer.