Free transit for Seniors and Free Transit for youth evenings and weekends

By Pepper Parr

June 28th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

It has been a long time getting to this point – but starting August 1st transit will be free for Seniors all day, every day and free for Youth, evenings (after 6 p.m.) and weekends.

The decision got through the Committee meeting easier than I expected.

Jim Young delegated at Standing Committee in support of free transit services for Seniors and Youth. It was a long time getting to this point.

Jim Young, who I expect will be outside his building at daylight wanting to be one of, if not THE first senior to take advantage of the service.
What was voted on yesterday has to get approved at Council but given the way Council members commented that would appear to be a given.

The Chief Financial Officer was instructed to incorporate the $160,000 annualized revenue loss in the 2024 budget.

PRESTO system restriction to allow for only one time-of-day pricing category to be active at a time.

Council has often split over transit matters. A small group of transit advocates pressed for more than a decade to get to this point, arguing that transit was not only necessary but vital if the city was to avoid serious traffic congestion and meet its climate change targets.

Bfast was the citizens organization that kept the issue before council. There efforts were validated yesterday.

There was a need to change attitudes towards public transit and give people an opportunity to use the service.

Jim Young pressed Council to get to the point where transit in Burlington was a free service for everyone at anytime.

The decision today was a solid first step in that direction.

Implementation of Free Transit for Youth
The Free Transit for Youth program with a budget impact (revenue loss) of $84,000, will allow riders aged 13 to 19 to ride Burlington Transit for free on evenings and weekends, starting August 1, 2023.
Like the original approach that applied to seniors, eligible riders will need to obtain a PRESTO card with the youth category defined, to allow for free travel after 6pm and all-day Saturday and Sunday.

Current Free Transit for Seniors Program
In 2019, Burlington City Council approved the Free Transit for Seniors pilot, which enabled seniors, 65 years and older, to ride Burlington Transit for free Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The pilot started in May 2019 and was made permanent in the 2022 budget that allowed free transit Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

From May 2019 to February 2020, senior ridership increased by 41 percent. This was directly attributed to providing free transit for seniors. Senior ridership is currently at 91 percent of pre-pandemic levels and was 22 percent higher in the fall of 2022 compared to the fall of 2018.

The Presto card plays a major role in how the Free Transit service will operate.

PRESTO System Restrictions
Due to PRESTO system implementation restrictions, time-of-day pricing can only be assigned to one fare category. Therefore, to implement free transit for youth on evenings and weekends, it is recommended to make transit free for seniors all the time.

When a senior, youth or child obtains a PRESTO card, they must provide their date of birth to ensure the proper fare category for the card. This allows the system to validate the card holder and allows the rider to travel seamlessly.

When a youth rider turns 20 years of age, they are automatically moved into an adult fare category, and the youth fare program is no longer accessible on their card.

By requiring the use of the PRESTO card for free transit, it mitigates the potential risk of fare evasion by ensuring riders are the appropriate age. It also mitigates the need for the operators to question the age of our riders, which has resulted in harassment and/or a negative transit experience.

Passengers who use PRESTO cards benefit from seamless connections with our neighbouring transit agencies and to GO Transit.

Options Considered
Burlington Transit considered other options to accommodate free transit for youth and seniors based on time-of-day pricing:

1: Manually Track Youth Rides (not recommended)
To identify youth riders, Burlington Transit investigated the option of adding a sticker or visual validation for youth riders. This is not recommended due to the increased staff time to validate age and hand out stickers; and it creates an additional barrier for youth, who would have to obtain a sticker yearly. Transit operators would also be required to manually track the youth ride through the bus fare box. Manual collection of data is not recommended as it is prone to errors and omissions.

2: Offer free transit for youth at all times (not recommended)
This option has a significant annual revenue impact and due to capacity and service limitations, is not recommended at this time.

3: Work with PRESTO to implement a ‘Pass’ product on the card (not recommended)
The Burlington Transit team investigated this option with PRESTO, and it would require riders to have a specialty pass loaded onto their PRESTO cards that would enable free transit during the set time. This would require riders to have passes loaded in person at the Transit Terminal every year and would require additional resources to manage the increased number of customers. This is not recommended.

The next step for Burlington Transit is to move the fleet from diesel buses to electric vehicles.

4: Offer free transit for seniors all day, every day (recommended)
By removing the time-of-day limitation for seniors, it would allow for youth riders to travel for free on Burlington Transit during the set time of evenings and weekends. This is the most cost effective and seamless option.

Financial Matters:
Extending free transit for seniors to all day, every day, effective August 1, 2023, will have an impact on Burlington Transit’s 2023 revenue.

Free transit for seniors will have an ongoing revenue impact of approximately $117,500 plus the Region’s SPLIT (Subsidized Pass for Low Income Transit) contribution of approximately $42,500 for a total revenue impact of $160,000 on the overall transit operating budget.

With the Free Transit for Youth, evenings and weekends, program commencing on August 1, 2023, the revenue impact in 2023 is estimated at $35,000 compared to the approved budget of $84,000.

The total impact for the remainder of 2023, to fund free transit for seniors all day from August 1 to December 31, will be approximately $17,670.

Transit has always been a contentious issue in Burlington. Former Mayor Rick Goldring looks on while a citizen berates both the Mayor and the Director of Transportation at the time.

Source of Funding
Subject to the City’s overall year-end financial position, the decreased revenue of $17,670 for 2023 could be funded from a draw from the provincial gas tax reserve fund. The annualized revenue loss of $160,000 will need to be incorporated into the 2024 budget.

Public transit plays a critical role in local climate mitigation. Free transit programs encourage transit usage and reduce the use of vehicles within the city. Every ride on Burlington Transit takes one car off the road and reduces CO2 emissions and traffic congestion.

Each year, transit staff release a rider survey which enables riders to provide input and commentary on transit within Burlington. The 2023 survey had close to 1000 responses.