OC Transpo proposing subscription-type discount fare for hybrid workers

A train passes under an overpass along the Confedration Line of Ottawa's LRT. (CTV News Ottawa)

OC Transpo is proposing a subscription-type, prepaid discounted fare to attract hybrid workers back to buses and the O-Train.

In April, Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill directed staff to look into developing a new subscription model transit fare with similar discounts that riders receive when using a monthly pass to commute to work five days a week.

In a report for the Transit Commission meeting on Sept. 14, staff say it would be feasible to provide "prepaid discounted fares within a limited period of validity" to transit riders as an alternative to a monthly pass.

"Under this option, customers would purchase a discounted fare product valid for a certain number of trips over a certain number of days (for example, 12 trips over a span of 14 consecutive days)," the report says.

"Any travel credits purchased and not used would expire at the end of the period of validity."

If the Transit Commission decides to proceed with the discounted fare, more detailed options will be presented during the 2024 budget debate. The Transit Commission and Council would decide the price, the number of travel credits and the length of the period of validity for the subscription-style fare. 

Staff say there would be some limits to the subscription fares, including:

• The smartcard cannot hold more than 31 travel credits, for technical reasons
• The ticket should not have a validity period the same as any of the unlimited passes, to avoid confusion
• The ticket should not have a validity period longer than about three weeks, to reduce the risk of bending causing damage to the electronics in the paper smartcard
• The ticket should not have a price and validity period that competes with the currently monthly pass

The report notes a customer who makes at least 40 trips a month currently receives a 15 per cent discount from the single-ride fare. The break-even point for a monthly pass is 34 trips a month.

"The current fare structure, with single-ride fares and with single-day, multi-day, and monthly passes for unlimited travel, may not provide a financial incentive for customers to use transit more frequently if they are unlikely to travel enough to reach the break-even point of a monthly pass," staff said. "An additional fare prepayment option with an intermediate discount may provide a financial incentive for hybrid workers to return to transit as their primary mode of transportation to work, further improving ridership numbers."

OC Transpo currently offers single-ride fares, passes for unlimited travel for periods of one, three, five, or seven consecutive days and an unlimited monthly pass.

Customers would purchase the discounted fare ticket at OC Transpo ticket machines at O-Train stations, at 12 Transitway stations or at the OC Transpo offices on Belfast Road. The ticket would be issued as a paper smartcard, and riders would tap the card each time they board a bus or enter an O-Train station.

The proposed subscription-type transit fare comes as OC Transpo continues to experience lower transit ridership and fare revenue post COVID-19 pandemic, "primarily resulting from high rates of downtown office workers working from home or working a hybrid schedule both from home and at the office," according to the report.  The transit service is projecting a $51 million fare revenue shortfall for 2023 and a $35 million fare revenue deficit in 2024.

If the Transit Commission and Council decide to proceed with a subscription-type discounted fare, staff believe it will be launched by mid-2024.