Weekly newsletter: November 26, 2024
Hi everyone!
It’s the last week of November and I’m going to be 33 soon. What better way to celebrate than to dive deep into the budget?
We also had a special visitor try to get into the Transit Commission meeting yesterday ☝️
Transit budget
Why did I vote against it?
The 2025 transit draft operating and capital budgets passed in a six-three vote at yesterday’s Transit Commission meeting. I was one of the three dissenting votes.
(Technically, the Transit Commission votes to recommend that Council approve the draft budget in two weeks, but I’ll use “pass” and “approve” here for simplicity.)
If passed by Council in its current form, the 2025 operating budget for OC Transpo increases to $856 million, up from $768 million this year, which includes an eight per cent increase to the transit levy.
Transit fares are also increasing by an average of five per cent, broken down as such:
Adult cash fare – $4.00/$4.05 (Presto/cash), up 5.3 per cent
Adult monthly pass – $135.00, up 4.9 per cent
Senior cash fare – $3.20, up 10.3 per cent
Senior monthly pass – $78.50, up 60.2 per cent
U-Pass – $240.52/semester, up 5.0 per cent
An earlier proposal to increase the senior monthly pass by 120.4 per cent to $108 was backtracked after significant public pressure. Though that proposal brings our senior’s pass closer to most other transit agencies, an increase of that scale at once is not reasonable.
Changes to fares for children and youths were approved. Free fares for children have been scaled back to up to 10 years old, while those aged 11 and 12 have a new $2.00 cash fare, and the youth pass was eliminated.
The transit draft budget, along with other draft budgets, will be discussed and amended before a final overall budget vote at Council on December 11. There may be further changes to the transit budget through motions by Councillors at that meeting, meaning the details noted above may change.
My vote against the transit draft budget was based mostly on my unease about the $36 million gap and the uncertainty around the proposed U-Pass increase.
The $36 million gap has been called a “placeholder” by City staff and the Mayor, money they hope will come from the upper levels of government.
While I have some faith that the placeholder would not have been included if there was no confidence any funding would come through, I’m mostly uneasy and feel it’s irresponsible to budget based on a hope.
Hopefully, that can change between now and the final vote in December, because if we budget for it and the funding doesn’t come through, we’ll have to find $36 million during the year somehow.
The increase to the U-Pass is above the 2.5 per cent agreed to between OC Transpo and participating post-secondary institutions (Algonquin, Carleton, Saint Paul, uOttawa).
Each institution must agree to a proposed increase above 2.5 per cent, and each has a unique way to decide on their agreement. For example, per one of today’s delegations at Committee, uOttawa’s student union will put it to a referendum.
Additionally, though some progress with non-fare revenue (e.g. advertising, sponsorship, fare enforcement) has been made, we are still relying on an outdated funding model that no longer works.
As I’ve shared a few times throughout this year, the longstanding funding model of fares, taxes, and occasional top-ups worked for 125 years when Monday-to-Friday commuters were reliably present.
Despite changes in our commuting habits since 2022, which now are mostly permanent, there’s still a preference for status quo or one-time cash injections with no sustainability plan.
Think about this: when non-profits ask for corporate sponsorship, they are expected to create a sustainability plan. The City should be no different when it asks upper levels of government for funding.
Many residents know the story in Barrhaven (and any suburb, really). There was a time when downtown was just 45 minutes away by bus. The first winter of LRT is still a collective citywide trauma, not helped by the deterioration in bus service.
We also continue to pay the price of poor decisions in the past, including our current problem of half the bus fleet over 15 years old (buses have a useful life around 12 years, up to 18 years with a midlife refurbishment), because practically all of our articulated buses were procured in one order while delays in electric bus deliveries have pushed our oldest 40-foot buses to almost 20 years old.
Thankfully, OC Transpo has moved away from the practice of procuring large orders at once to a steadier state procurement model, where tranches of buses are ordered each year to ensure the maintenance cycle is sustainable. But that means true stability will be another few years away.
Trillium Line final_final_v3 (final).exe
Technical briefing “in the coming days.”
During yesterday’s Transit Commission, OC Transpo also shared they are progressing through the regulatory approval stages for the Trillium Line. They are taking advantage of the time to do more final tests and correct other deficiencies as well.
OC also shared a technical briefing will happen “in the coming days,” which I hope will finally include an opening date. Stay tuned for details!
The rest of the budget
Budget discussions continue until December 11!
Tuesday, November 26, 9:30 am (today) – Community Services Committee
Thursday, November 28, 9:30 am – Transportation Committee
Monday, December 2, 9:30 am – Audit Committee
Monday, December 2, 4:00 pm – Ottawa Police Service Board
Monday, December 2, 5:00 pm – Ottawa Board of Health
Tuesday, December 3, 9:30 am – Finance and Corporate Services Committee
Tuesday, December 3, 5:00 pm – Ottawa Public Library Board
Thursday, December 5, 10:00 am – Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
Wednesday, December 11, 10:00 am – City Council, final budget considerations and vote
Upcoming things to do!
The lead-up to the Christmas season always means lots of opportunities to support local makers at craft markets in the community!
Saturday, November 30, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm – Maker’s Market at Farley Mowat Public School, 75 Waterbridge Drive
Sunday, December 1, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm – Barrhaven Legion annual craft market, 3500 Fallowfield Road
Saturday, December 7, 1:15 pm to 5:00 pm – Junior Achievers company sales day at the Merivale Mall, 1642 Merivale Road
Join your neighbours from across Barrhaven, as well as Councillor Hill and me at the Minto Recreation Complex on Sunday December 1 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm for a family skate evening! Enjoy free skating, activities, and food! Children 10 and under must have a helmet.
Thank you for reading. Be safe on the roads. Until next week!
-Wilson