On Wednesday November 6th, the Transit Commission tabled the proposed 2020 Draft Budget for OC Transpo.
With 2019 being the first year of multimodal service, investments in the draft budget reflect Councillor and customer feedback and data analysis collected since the launch of Line 1 and the October 6 network service change.
Proposed items include:
- $7.5 million investment for bus service, with an additional 19 new buses in service
- $2 million to provide for increased Para Transpo service
- Fare freeze for EquiPass, Community Pass and Access Pass
- $440,000 incremental cost for EquiPass and Community Pass to be funded by Community and Social Services
- Minimal cost for Access Pass to be funded by the City’s Transportation Services Department
- $15 million capital funding to implement bus detours for the temporary closure of O-Train Line 2 during Stage 2 construction work
- Continued capital investments across all aspects of the service
Ridership is predicted to be at 99.4 million customer-trips in 2020, which is 2.6 per cent higher than ridership over the last 12 months. With this rise in expected customer-trips, and accounting for the delayed fare increase in 2019, revenue is forecast to be $202.6 million, which is 4.3 per cent higher than the 2019 budget.
The 2020 draft budget will be considered by the Transit Commission on November 20, and then by City Council on December 11.
