Should a city committee's planned 7.5 per cent increase go through on transit fares, the cost of an adult bus pass in Ottawa will have gone up 20 per cent in under two years.
The transit hike is part of several increased user fees that residents will pay to keep the property tax increase below four per cent, should the recommendations of the city's audit, budget and finance committee meet the approval of council during annual budget negotiations.
OC Transpo introduced two rate hikes since July 2008 -- one that brought a regular adult bus pass from $73 to $81, and another from $81 to $84.75. This latest one will increase adult pass fares to over $90 monthly in March 2010.
The city says the hikes are necessary to equally split the cost of transit between property tax payers and bus riders.
They also plan to reverse the universal, cut-price bus price just recently approved for university students, and also make unspecified cuts to bus service on weekends and nights to save $10 million.
Other measures proposed by the committee last week to cut $60 million from the 2010 budget include:
- Hiring 23 new paramedics to accommodate resident growth, rather than the 65 originally planned to bring Ottawa's service in line with international standards.
- Borrowing $20 million for road and sewer repairs with the aim of paying it back at a later, unspecified date.
- Cutting Crime Prevention Ottawa to save $510,000.
- Eliminating stump removal and cutting back tree maintenance to save $1.5 million.
The budget is set to go to city council later this month for their say.
