Burlington Council Unanimously Approves Free Transit for Seniors All-Day, for Youth Evenings & Weekends, Directs Staff to Investigate Free Transit for All

Burlington City Council has unanimously approved implementing free transit for seniors all day, every day and free transit for youth (aged 13-19) in the evenings (after 6 p.m.) and on weekends, starting August 1, 2023.Council also unanimously approved a staff direction from Councillor Paul Sharman and seconded by Councillor Rory Nisan asking staff:

• to report back to Council on ridership data as a result of the free transit for seniors, youth and SPLIT Pass users (all age groups);
• to report back on the cost estimates and recommended implementation of providing free transit for youth -- all day, every day; and
• to investigate the impacts of offering free transit for everyone.

MY TAKE:This is all about getting more people on buses and that translates to being better for the environment, social connections, other road users and transit users, and the economy, among other benefits. Increased ridership helps us meet our climate targets and modal split goals, and qualifies us for increased Gas Tax Revenue -- with a greater number of people taking transit relative to vehicles, currently.I want to thank staff of their commitment and excellent work on seeing this through in support of our local seniors and youth -- and my Council colleagues for their unanimous approval. I also want to thank Councillors Paul Sharman and Rory Nisan for their staff direction to investigate how we might provide free transit for youth, all-day and every day, and free transit for all -- along with detailed impacts to the City.One of our delegates at committee, Jim Young - who also represents Burlington for Accessible Sustainable Transit (BFAST), said it best: if we put 40 people on a bus, you’ve now taken 40 people off the road in cars, and removed the greenhouse gases those cars would generate. We also make our roads less congested for other drivers. Providing a cost-effective option to get around gives people more money in their pockets to invest in other goods and services. For folks who can’t or don’t drive, transit provides the only option to get around the city and participate in civic life, work and recreation/social activities.

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You can view the staff report and appendices here, and the full staff direction and a City of Burlington news release below:Direct the Director of Transit to report back to the Sept. 12 CPRM meeting with information/data on ridership, as a result of:

• free transit for seniors;
• free transit for youth;
• SPLIT Pass ridership (all age groups); and

Provide cost estimates and implementation recommendations for free transit for youth -- all day, every day; andDirect the Director of Transit to investigate offering free transit for all. This would include a detailed analysis of:

• Budget impacts and 10-year forecast for both Operating Budget and Capital Budget;
• Impacts to transit service and service requirements for a successful rollout. To include resourcing, assets (conventional and specialized);
• PRESTO contract and fare integration impacts;
• Gas tax impacts;
• Regional Transit Operationalization impacts;
• Benefits for free transit including environmental, economic;
• Risks of free transit to City's financial sustainability and service impacts and expansion;
• Impacts to specialized transit;
• Potential funding sources; and

Report back to Committee by Q4 2024; andAuthorize the Chief Financial Officer to transfer $50,000 from the Provincial Gas Tax Reserve Fund to retain a consultant to undertake this review.City of Burlington News Release:Burlington, Ont. — July 12, 2023 — Starting Aug. 1, 2023, seniors 65 years and older, can ride Burlington Transit for free. This was approved by Burlington City Council at their regular council meeting on July 11, 2023.As part of the 2023 budget, Council also approved Free Transit for Youth which will also start on Aug. 1, 2023. Youth 13 to 19 years can ride Burlington Transit for free on evenings after 6 p.m. and all day on weekends.Seniors and youth can ride for free when they tap their PRESTO card when getting on Burlington Transit. PRESTO cards can be purchased with the Senior or Youth category applied at several locations in Burlington including:

• The Downtown Burlington Transit Bus Terminal, 430 John St.
• All Shoppers Drug Mart locations in Burlington

PRESTO cards can be purchased for $6 at any of the PRESTO service locations or Youth and Senior PRESTO cards are available at no charge during July and August. These cards are only available at the Downtown Burlington Transit Bus Terminal, 430 John St., while supplies last.BackgroundIn 2019, Burlington City Council approved the Free Transit for Seniors pilot. This offered seniors 65 years and older, free rides on Burlington Transit on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The pilot started in May 2019 and was made permanent in the 2022 budget. To measure the success of the program, seniors needed a PRESTO card to get free transit. Outside of that time, seniors would pay a fare to use transit. From May 2019 to February 2020, senior ridership increased by 41 per cent due to free transit for seniors. Senior ridership is currently at 91 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and was 22 per cent higher in the fall of 2022 compared to the fall of 2018.Burlington is a city where people, nature and businesses thrive. Sign up to learn more about Burlington at burlington.ca/subscribe and follow @CityBurlington on social media.

"Since Burlington City Council introduced free travel for seniors mid-day on weekdays, we have seen an increase in seniors choosing transit as their way to get around Burlington. We are thrilled to extend this program to offer seniors free transit all day, every day on our buses. We are also delighted to provide youth, ages 13 to 19, the opportunity to take transit to many of the great locations that Burlington Transit goes. These initiatives are possible thanks to the strong support of our Mayor and Councillors." -- Catherine Baldelli, Director of Transit, City of Burlington

Links and Resources:

• burlingtontransit.ca
• prestocard.ca
• Connect with Burlington Transit at contactBT@burlington.ca, 905-639-0550, or on Twitter @BurlONTransit.