Ottawa seniors will be facing a 60 per cent hike in transit fares in 2025, instead of a 120 per cent increase, under a new plan to halve a proposed hike in fares for riders over the age of 65.
The 2025 draft City of Ottawa budget initially proposed a 120 per cent increase in the cost of a seniors’ monthly pass from $49 to $108, along with the elimination of free transit for seniors on Wednesdays and Sundays. The proposal has sparked backlash from some councillors and the public about the $59 a month increase for transit riders over 65.
In an email sent to councillors Friday afternoon, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said a motion will be presented during Monday’s transit commission meeting to increase the cost of a seniors’ monthly pass to $78.50.
“We’ve all heard feedback from the community about proposed changes to transit fares included in the draft 2025 budget,” Sutcliffe said.
“The members of the Long-Range Financial Plan Working Group on Transit (Councillors (Jeff) Leiper, (Glen) Gower, (Tim) Tierney and I) have continued to work together to respond to that input.”
Sutcliffe says the senior fare discount will be 42 per cent off the price of an adult monthly pass.
“This fare level ensures we continue to protect affordability for seniors and aligns more closely with other seniors fares in Ontario.”
OC Transpo would also continue to offer free transit to seniors on Wednesday.
The motion for Monday’s transit commission meeting directs staff to offset the $820,000 reduction in seniors’ fare revenue by reducing the contribution to the Transit Capital Reserve in 2025.
The 2025 City of Ottawa budget proposes a five-per-cent hike in transit fares to help cover a $120 million deficit in the 2025 OC Transpo budget. The cost of a monthly adult pass will increase to $135 in 2025.
The city is also eliminating free transit for 11- and 12-year-olds and eliminating the discounted youth transit fare for 13- to 18-year-olds, requiring riders to get an adult transit fare.