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Mark Sutcliffe will make the first major policy announcement of his re-election bid on Monday, releasing a transit platform that includes a pledge to cut the cost of OC Transpo’s adult monthly pass by $43.50.
It marks a shift for a mayor who had previously warned that even a fare freeze could starve the system of funds, and who repeatedly argued that passengers care more about reliability than price.
Under his proposal, the price of an adult transit pass would fall from $138.50 to $95 a month, though discounted passes for seniors and low-income people would remain unchanged.
CBC had obtained details about a transit campaign announcement coming on Monday and then asked Sutcliffe for an interview to confirm and discuss the idea. He said he’s hoping it will push more people to give transit a try for their regular commute.
“It’s about rewarding our best customers for their patience,” he said. “It’s about welcoming people back to transit and giving them a reason to come back and making it attractive for them to do so.”
He said the reduction would cost about $8 million to $10 million annually, though that’s only after accounting for the boost in ridership his campaign team says is likely to follow. Without that, they say, the overall cost would be about $15 million to $17 million per year.
The money would come from savings Sutcliffe expects from the promised LRT upload to Metrolinx.
Sutcliffe said it’s too soon to say whether total monthly fares would be capped at $95 for riders who pay for individual trips using Presto, debit, credit or cash.
“I think that’s something I’d want to work with OC Transpo staff on to determine what the pros and cons are of that,” he said. “But we would certainly take a look at that.”
The commitment is only for a single year, though Sutcliffe said it could be revisited and extended.
“If it’s working, I would want to keep it going,” he said. “I want to continue to keep transit passes as low as possible for the four years.”
Other candidates have already released plans
Sutcliffe is the fourth candidate to make a platform commitment on transit.
Neil Saravanamuttoo also focused on fares in his first major announcement, which he called “buck a ride, citywide.” Single fares would be set at $1 for all riders, with a monthly cap of $40.
That’s likely to cost substantially more than Sutcliffe’s pledge, though Saravanamuttoo also factors in a bump in ridership and says he, too, would use the upload funds to pay the balance.
He also wants to redesign the bus network and launch a transit real estate development agency to fund the system.
Jeff Leiper released the bulk of his transit policy even before he officially registered to run for mayor.
He said he would reverse recent bus route changes that were panned by the city’s auditor general, add more dedicated bus lanes and add a citizen seat to the transit committee that oversees OC Transpo. He’s also making a transit guarantee, saying service will be reliable or riders will get a refund.
Alex Lawson’s transit plan includes a network of express buses to backstop the LRT, efforts to improve fare collection and rebuilt bus schedules. He’s also promising to make transit safer.
Some of his promises, like shifting away from school routes and double-decker buses, have already been implemented by OC Transpo since he made them.
Transit turmoil easing, Sutcliffe says
OC Transpo has struggled financially as ridership remains stuck well below pre-pandemic levels. The transit agency has run deficits year after year, with the shortfall reaching $52 million last year.
Though Sutcliffe followed through on a previous campaign promise to freeze fares in the first year of his current mandate, in draft budgets since he hasn’t supported efforts by other councillors to rein in proposed fare hikes.
For the 2024 budget, he said that another year of frozen fares would compound over time and end up costing a fortune, and the 2025 budget hiked fares by five per cent.
But he said conditions are changing, especially given the provincial government’s commitment to upload the LRT and take on its costs, something Sutcliffe predicts will save the city $85 million per year.
“Because we were bearing the cost of the LRT project to a large extent on our own, we always had to choose between making fares more affordable and investing in the system,” he said.
He argued that the upload will free up money and allow him to do both. He said it will also help fund a range of other transit investments he’s planning to announce on Monday, but which he would not reveal beforehand.
As OC Transpo prepares to test the long-delayed east extension and electric buses finally hit the road, Sutcliffe said the system is finally reaching a point where an incentive makes sense.
“We needed to bring the system to a higher level of quality before we started attracting more people to the system with lower fares,” he said.