OC Transpo scrapping youth discount fares, increasing seniors passes 120% in 2025 budget
CTV
OC Transpo is ending the free ride for 11 and 12-year-olds and will be charging youth and seniors more to board the bus and the O-Train in 2025, as part of a five-per-cent hike in the 2025 City of Ottawa budget.
OC Transpo is ending the free ride for 11 and 12-year-olds and will be charging youth and seniors more to board the bus and the O-Train in 2025, as part of a five-per-cent hike in the 2025 City of Ottawa budget.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says the city is using "a lot of duct tape" to fill a $120 million hole in the OC Transpo budget, including a reduction in discounted fares for seniors and youth.
A five-per-cent hike would increase the cost of a single-adult fare to $4 for Presto/card users and $4.05 to cash, while an adult monthly bus fare will increase $6.25 to $135.
The Transit Services draft budget shows the city is scrapping the 'Youth' (ages 13-19) monthly pass, and scaling back the discount for seniors aged 65 and older. The city will also eliminate the free transit service for 11 and 12-year-olds in 2025.
The cost of a senior monthly pass will increase from $49 to $108, with staff saying the fare is a 20 per cent discount from the regular adult rate.
