Bus fares are going up.
Halifax council Tuesday voted to increase the price of transit,
effective July 1. The one-way adult fare will go up 12.5 percent, from
$2 to $2.25. Children and senior fares and the cost of monthly transit
passes, ferry and MetroLink service will rise as well.
The increase is needed, says Metro Transit manager Pat Soanes, to
fill a $2.6 million gap in the transit service’s budget.
Fares last went up four years ago, in January 2005, from $1.75 to
$2. Since that increase, Metro Transit’s service has increased 60
percent, claims Soanes, citing new MetroLink connections to Sackville
and Cole Harbour, the implementation of the U-Pass system for students
at local universities, increased ferry operations to the new NSCC
campus in Woodside, more Sunday buses since the Sunday shopping ban was
overturned, a handful of new bus routes and a more liberal transfer
policy.
Those changes alone account for this year’s operating budget
deficit, but more worrisome are future budget shortfalls.
Last year, council agreed to a relatively ambitious five-year
capital plan for transit. That plan foresees a further 25 percent
increase in service, as well as new MetroLink routes, new service to
far-flung rural communities, a new bridge terminal in Dartmouth and,
most controversially, a fast ferry service to Bedford.
Most of the $150 million for the five-year plan comes from the
federal government and pays for the capital costs of the plan—the
purchase of buses and ferries, the construction of terminals, etc. But
actually operating the expanded service—buying the fuel, paying the
drivers, etc.—was left unfunded. If the full five-year plan is
implemented, the deficit for operating costs is projected to balloon to
$16.3 million by 2014.
Traditionally in Nova Scotia, transit operating costs are left to
the city, which funds them through a combination of fare box receipts
and property taxes.
Property taxes should help pay for buses, says Soanes, because
“transit helps all of HRM;” a transit system results in less road
traffic for all commuters and improved environmental quality, whether
taxpayers take the bus or not, she says. Still, council did not raise
the property tax subsidy for transit.
As recently as 2006, fares accounted for more than 70 percent of
Metro Transit’s budget, one of the highest rates in North America. That
figure has recently come down to about 50 percent, which is about
average for Canadian cities of Halifax’s size.
To meet future deficits, Soanes’ report to council envisions an
increase in the property tax subsidy next year, yet another 25-cent
increase in fares on July 1, 2011 and another property tax increase the
following year.
Some councillors objected to the fare increase.
“There have definitely been improvements in transit over the years,”
said Andrew Younger. “We still, however, struggle with leave-behinds
[and other service shortfalls]…if I wasn’t providing a product that
consumers were totally happy with, would I increase the price of my
product before I got those issues sorted out, or would I increase the
price of my product after? Well, of course I wouldn’t increase the
price until I got those issues sorted out. So I have a lot of trouble
with a fare increase at the moment.”
“I’m not supportive of a fare increase,” said Jennifer Watts. “What
we’re saying is this increase is the most efficient way for us to buy
time [to find other ways to increase the budget], but from my
viewpoint, people who take the bus are the ones who have been buying
time for us for a long time—by waiting at bus stops, by waiting at
stops and seeing buses go by, by changing their schedules because they
know the bus only comes so often—they have been buying time for us as
a community.”
But on a motion by Reg Rankin, the majority of council agreed with
the fare increase. Generally, suburban and rural councillors supported
the increase, while urban councillors opposed it.
“What’s a cup of coffee cost nowadays, plus a tip?” asked Lorelei
Nicoll, who represents Cole Harbour. “Now that’s a luxury. Getting to
work is a necessity. So I support fully the increase.”
None of the 23 councillors or mayor Peter Kelly regularly use the
bus.
Related Stories
Transit plan: not perfect, but necessary
This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2009.
Although I don’t think that they would agree but maybe for 3 months starting April 1st the mayor and all the councillors should lock up their vehicles and get a monthly bus pass and take the bus. Maybe some of the issues that metro transit has to deal with would be solved sooner.
Linda
Whether or not I agree with the fare increase is of no concern. What puzzles me is that 23 councillors who take their cars into work every morning and NEVER have to wait out in the cold, or pay for a transit pass decide if a fare increase is feasible. As if they are representative of the bus users. Give me a break.
It’s .25, people. Get a grip!
I’m with hrmlover on this one, it’s a 12.5% increase for a 60% increase in service, any was you cut it, it’s a great deal. There will always be people who have issues with Transit, but out of the hundreds of thousands they are probably in the low hundreds, still a pretty good track record.
“new MetroLink connections to Sackville” …CHACHING!!
“new MetroLink connections to Cole Harbour” …CHACHING!
“U-Pass” …CHACHING!
“increased operations to NSCC Woodside ” …CHACHING!
“more Sunday buses” …CHACHING!
“new bus routes” …CHACHING!
Did somebody say CASH COW?
No? The feds cover infrastructure costs yet these new sources of revenue (that’s what they are!) cause “budget deficit[s]”? Do you think we’re not paying attention? (The CHA CHING was still echoing in my head when I read that.)
As is evident by bitches in this very publication Metro Transit service is far from “efficient” yet the most “efficient” way of solving their budgetary issues is a fare increase?
Well, they’ve got a lot of you HRM lovers fooled into believing revenue streams are actually expenses so why the fuck not?
Have they actually increased the service of the Woodside ferry? It doesn’t appear so on their website. If they really want to increase the price of the bus, they need to at the very least have that ferry run all day.
Here’s the problem. People are always going to complain about MT’s service issues. They have increased service by 60% and it shows in a lot of cases. A trip downtown no longer has to be on the hour, nor does it have to be on a weekday. Take the 16 and you’ll see the result of that focus. The ferries are in need of a better schedule, and probably expanded service, but they’re crazy expensive and it’s tough to do, especially since the ferries are twice the cost of a bus and the buses are easier on fuel, maintenance, and just about everything else. The buses cost upward of a half a mil and the city has been footing the bill the entire time, with little to no help from the feds, and absolutely none from the province. If you ask me, it’s the province’s failing to provide mediocre (I say mediocre because that’s all we get from our province. Go into a hospital and you’ll see what I mean) support for public transit that we need to raise fares. Then again, the province hasn’t focused on the city for a long time now, they would rather focus on spending 1.5 mil for a new driveway in RodMac’s riding, or dredging Sydney Harbour for a new container ship terminal that’ll see one ship a year. That’s a whole other kettle of fish, so to speak.
$0.25 is an extra $10/month for a bus pass. If you think that $10 a month can’t make the difference in someone’s life then you really haven’t much experience with the reality of “living poor”. Great that you have an opinion, though. Props for that.
Kay seems to have forgotten that it costs more to operate these expanded services than what the “revenue streams” bring in. Thus, a defecit. No public transit in North America turns a profit, it just doesn’t work like that.
And, of course HRM is still on the hook for operating costs. Infrastructure is only part of the picture.
I agree with Brash, how can people who don’t use the service dictate how the service should run? If a person who doesn’t own a car be part of the decision making for gas price increases? I think not! Also, if they want to have any say in public transit, they should actually ride public transit, unless they think it costs to much or is it they don’t get the service where they live? I ride public transit, I don’t have a problem with the $0.25 increase, PROVIDING, i’m going to see increased service.
The people in council have nothing to do with the planning of routes, etc. They may be involved with approving fare increases, but that’s the extent of the control. The city planners that set routes and times, etc. know the routes better than any of us, and most of the newer routes show that focus.
hrmlover, it’s $10 for someone who wants to take a day trip with their lover.
i have found that it is almost just as cheap for a family to cab now then take the bus. me and my older kids (4 of them) cost 10$ now to bus to the mall. Same price for a cab. I know what I prefer.
I agree with the people making these changes implementing the use of the bus in their own lifestyle. To know first hand what it is their changing before they act like they know what they are talking about. To have to wait an hour late at night to catch a bus home after work because the bus comes just before your off.
do you think they will blame the loss of revenue due to the way you can reuse the transfers now. before you had to pay everytime you used the bus unless you were catching a conecting one. now you have about an hour +/- to get on another bus (even if you shopped/ paid bills whatever) just keep your transfer handy. This has saved money on quick trips.
@hrmlover that twenty five cents adds up to 120$ a year if you only take the bus to & from work every day, more if you have side trips for things like the doctor, groceries, the dentist. Personally I’d rather that 120$ be in my pocket than the mayor’s, and I agree with those who think the councillors ought to take the bus for a few months; preferably midwinter so they can get the full experience of standing in the sub-zero temperatures in a broken shelter waiting for a bus that shows up either ten minutes early so you miss it or twenty minutes late.