'Frozen' bus fares in Saskatoon could be up for review after 9 years without increase
By Phil Tank - CBC News Saskatoon
Online survey on transit fees expected to launch Wednesday
Saskatoon politicians are set to consider the potentially contentious issue of bus fares on Tuesday.
Council's transportation committee will consider a report calling for a review of the cost of taking the bus, which has been constant in Saskatoon for nine years.
And the last time fares were adjusted in 2016, the cost dropped from $3.10 to an even $3.
"Saskatoon Transit fares have remained frozen since 2016, a period during which inflation has eroded their real value by 23 per cent," the report said.
Fares now only pay for about 30 per cent of the cost of operating Saskatoon's transit system, the report added. The rest of the money to fund transit comes from general tax revenue.
Council declined to adjust bus fares in the current two-year budget, despite options to raise fares by up to 10 per cent. But last year, it did eliminate fares for children in Grade 8 and under.
Bus fares brought in slightly more than $15 million last year.
Saskatoon bus fares rank as "consistently lower" than those in similar cities, the report said, adding that the cost per trip in Saskatoon is lower than the national average.
The push for a review is driven partly by the introduction of the Link bus rapid transit system scheduled to debut in 2028.
Another reason for the review is the drop in the number of people paying by cash since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
The introduction of payment through mobile devices has "fundamentally changed" how occasional riders pay for transit, the report said.
People paying with physical money made up more than 12 per cent of ridership prior to the start of the pandemic, but that dropped to less than two per cent last year.
City hall administration is planning an online survey on bus fares that is expected to launch Wednesday, barring any intervention by the transportation committee.
But the two age-based discounts offered by Saskatoon Transit for adults could represent a controversial aspect of the review.
The report, which was written by city hall's chief public policy and government relations officer Mike Jordan, points to the discounts offered through special bus passes for post-secondary students and senior citizens.
Both passes raise questions about the motivation behind the subsidies, the report said
"This appears to illustrate that the current fare structure is neither efficient nor equitable, as subsidies are not targeted based on need," the report said.
Bathroom monitors on the agenda
Another committee will be looking at a pilot project involving uniformed supervisors stationed at a downtown public washrooms.
Council's environment, utilities and corporate services committee will consider a report Tuesday on the experiment, which was conducted at the washroom next to the downtown skating rink.
The supervision has been in place for more than a year. The original four-month trial was supposed to end in January, but city council voted to extend it to the end of the year.
From May to December last year, reported incidents averaged 34.9 per month. But they declined to 23.5 incidents per month from Jan. 1 to Sept. 1 this year.
The number of monthly incidents needing cleanup or repair dropped from 14 last year to four this year. And, since the trial began, the washroom has only closed once in response to an incident that required cleaning or maintenance.
During July and August, 6,376 people used the washroom located in North Kiwanis Memorial Park. Other downtown public washrooms sustained "significant closures" in July and August, the report says.
Click Here | Original CBC News Article