A City of Ottawa committee has voted to give free transit to all residents until the end of February, sweetening a previous offer of no-cost bus and train travel until Feb. 15 to win back OC Transpo patrons.
The newly proposed incentive is aimed at luring as many riders as possible into using transit services following a city transit strike that began in December and lasted nearly two months.
The threat of federal back-to-work legislation finally ended the dispute on Jan. 28. And while many of the city’s main bus routes were re-started on Monday, officials say the transit system won’t be fully operational until early April due to safety inspections required for the long-idled fleet.
The “Free February” plan was one of several motions passed at city hall on Monday during a five-hour meeting of the transit committee. To take effect, the decisions require ratification at Wednesday’s scheduled meeting of full city council.
But the free-transit offer could get even better for residents. A more generous proposal of free transit until the end of April — a move proposed by Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes that would cost the city about $37 million — was briefly discussed by committee members but ultimately deferred until their next meeting.
The committee did vote to ensure that all transit users who originally held a December bus pass will have he opportunity to travel on OC Transpo buses and trains for free until the end of March. Pass holders who received refunds in December after the strike began will now be allowed to repurchase that month’s pass to take advantage of the end-of-March offer open to other passholders.
“Essentially they will be traveling for free until March 31,” said transit services general manager Alain Mercier.
That offer could cost the city up to $5.8 million.
“All our information systems have been updated on fares and incentives,” said Mercier. “Our focus right now is on updating commuters regularly so that people feel comfortable to use (the transit) that is available at this time.”
According to the OC Transpo website, more than 80 per cent of the transit fleet is back up and running, though full service is not expected to resume until April.6.
“Our customers are relieved to be back,” said Mercier. “The relationship between our customers and operators has been cordial.”
Last week, the Ontario government announced a modified plan for bus inspections during the return-to-service period in the hopes of accelerating the re-start of several routes.
For some Ottawa residents, the incentives being offered so far aren’t enough.
“I feel that the City of Ottawa, the union and OC Transpo really, really, really need to mend a lot of fences with those of us who use public transit and those of us who had to deal with more cars on the road,” said Eleanor Brodie, an OC Transpo user. “I think that at a minimum we should receive free service as a bus user for the 50 plus days we were without service.”