Council approves smaller increase to discounted bus passes

Prince Albert’s city council approved a $2.50 increase to the portion riders pay for discounted monthly transit bus passes.

The rate hike for the discounted passes came as a result of a 6-3 vote at Monday evening’s council meeting. The original recommendation was to increase the riders’ portion by $5 from $15 to $20, but Coun. Martin Ring led the call for the lesser increase.

Ring suggested that the City decrease its subsidy by much less than what administration had proposed in a recent report. The City has been subsidizing the discount at $27.50 per pass, and administration was looking for a per-pass subsidy of $22.50. Instead, Ring said the City should only reduce the per-pass subsidy to $25, the same level as the provincial government’s per pass subsidy.

With $50 covered off by the municipal and provincial governments for an adult pass that normally costs $67.50, the discounted rate would then be $17.50.

Mayor Greg Dionne, who upon hearing Ring’s proposal said he’d think about it, later stood by it.

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“You got to settle somewhere in between,” he said after the meeting.

“Five dollars was the first ask, there were some restrictions. People sided – some agreed with my side of it. ‘Oh a million dollars, we already subsidize it. You know, where’s the cap?’ You know, we keep looking at our sports facilities, they keep bring them up. Well, we have a policy that we want a 50 per cent return, and some sports facilities we want a 60 per cent return.  On our golf course we want 100 per cent return. Well, we should cap that in our bus[es] as well.”

During the meeting, Dionne noted that the biggest subsidy granted by council is the one for the City’s transit system, an amount he pegged at about $1 million. He, however, emphasized that he isn’t “shunning” the poor.

But for him, taxpayers are who pay for the subsidies and everyone has to contribute.

“I don’t ride the bus, but I’m more than willing to donate some of my tax dollars to help subsidize the bus because I believe that we got to help our neighbour[s]. It’s about helping your neighbour. But at the same time, there’s a limit on what you can do.”

Looking at a projected 2015 subsidy to the discounted transit pass program of $102,092.25, the city’s administration put forward a proposal in a report that would see the pass users take on an additional $5 of the cost, while the City would its subsidy to $82,777.50.

As to why the City would have a lower cap on its funding to the discounted transit passes, Dionne said it was strictly because “then we can hopefully get more provincial funding.” As well, he would like to see the federal government fund Prince Albert’s transit system.

Earlier this year, the province raised its per-pass subsidy by 25 cents.

And one of the three councillors who voted against the increase to the riders’ share of the discounted transit passes wanted to keep the exiting subsidy structure in place out of fear of balancing the books on the backs of the poor.

“That’s not my view of the way the world should work,” Coun. Don Cody said during the meeting. “And don’t get me wrong, I’m not a raving socialist here or anything like that, but I do want to say that we do have people who can’t afford these kinds of rates and the $5 makes a big difference.”

The discounted passes are sold to people who receive social assistance from programs such as the Saskatchewan Assistance Program and the Saskatchewan Employment Supplement, among others. In 2013, 3,679 such passes were sold.

Support grew by the end of the lengthy debate for the $2.50 increase, and councillors were calling for more information about how other cities in the province subsidize transit.

Coun. Ted Zurakowski asked for a review of all facets of the transit system. “Not only the City buses, but all of the buses, from the school divisions as well,” he said.

The $2.50 increase will take effect at the beginning of December.

Dionne said that the City would be looking at all of its options.

“At the end of the day, we’re still struggling with – our bus system is not delivering the service that, at least, I want. You know, I want people to be able to take the bus and go home from the … Raider[s] games, but that isn’t happening.  I want our disabled people to be able to get out more. So, it’s just that when you talk about transit, I look at the whole picture. It’s just not the buses running down the street.  It’s how to get the handicapped people out, the seniors, everyone.

“So, am I happy with the transit system the way it is today? Absolutely not.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames