Cindy MacDougall
OC Transpo is trying to woo the white-collar worker to the bus.
The transit commission is lobbying the federal government to declare transit passes a non-taxable benefit. Companies could include a bus pass in their benefits packages, reducing pollution, parking problems and road decay. And ridership would increase, allowing OC Transpo to offer more efficient service.
Oxana Sawka, manager of marketing and cutomer services at OC Transpo, says the plan is a “win-win-win situation.” OC Transpo wants to increase its ridership 73 per cent by 2021, and this is one play in their game book. The Canadian Lung Association and other Ontario transit services back the lobby.
“It would be nice to be able to offer our employees a bus pass,” says Sandra Clark, director of human resources at PSI Net, located on Albert Street. “Both our higher-echelon employees and our other workers would use a bus pass.”
Contract workers could benefit from the pass without costing the company a lot of money.
The bus pass benefit seems like a great idea. But the plan has some flaws.
In this era of contract positions and freelance work, benefits are a sore issue. Many workers don’t have them. A bus pass may become a consolation prize thrown to contract workers.
Bosses could say a bus pass is a good benefit for a contracter, so the worker shouldn’t nag for medical coverage.
Clark says she would like to see life insurance and other benefits declared a non-taxable benefit before a bus pass. Employees are taxed for these perks.
Will the plan even increase ridership? A Department of Finance official says the government is considering the proposal, but isn’t sure declaring passes a non-taxable benefit would bring more people on board. He says the department will consider the plan after its pre-budget consulataions.
More efficient service in Centretown would be a better plan for attracting employees to the bus. When the two buses that regurlarly travel the entire length of Bank Street only come every 15 minutes and are constanly late, it’s easy to understand why workers drive.
The bus plan may be good for Centretown workers, but it isn’t perfect. OC Transpo should improve service to increase ridership, and should not expect more riders to equal better buses. More runs down the main thoroughfares of Centretown and buses running more often than every 15 minutes would be a good start. And the federal government should cut taxes on vital benefits such as life insurance before it throws us a bus pass.