Free public transportation in Ottawa ‘not a wise move,’ says Mayor Watson

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The mayor and two mayoral hopefuls say a proposed study on the cost of making transit free or more subsidized isn’t worth the $700,000 to $900,000 projected price tag.

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“I’ve never been a proponent of this so-called free transit and it’s not free because someone has to pay for it,” Mayor Jim Watson said Wednesday. “If you’re not paying into the fee box, then you’re going to pay it into your property tax bill and a 13 percent hit to your property taxes, from my perspective, is not a wise decision.”

In April, the city council asked staff to study the benefits and drawbacks of providing free transit, including how the loss of revenue would affect OC Transpo. The city turned to Toronto transit expert Brendon Hemily for a summary of that study. The city estimates that Hemily’s report would take a year and cost between $700,000 and $900,000.

Watson said it was not worth the cost of “telling us something we already know.”

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Mayoral candidate Mark Sutcliffe, a businessman, was quick to scrap the proposal this week. “We don’t need to spend $900k on a consultant study to tell us what every taxpayer already knows: We can’t afford to make transit free. Let’s work together to repair light rail and improve bus service,” Sutcliffe tweeted.

A former mayor with his sights set back on work was also dismissive. Bob Chiarelli said in a tweet that he wants a “top to bottom” review of OC Transpo by an outside auditor. “We can all agree that those who need help should be supported, and they do so through the monthly community and equi-passes,” Chiarelli tweeted. “As mayor, I would not support transferring the full cost of OC Transpo fees to the property tax bill.”

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The city report looked at three scenarios: making public transportation free for all riders, which cost OC Transpo about $209 million a year in lost revenue; reduce the percentage of OC Transpo’s operating costs covered by fare revenues to 30 percent from the current 45 percent; and the elimination of the 2.5 percent annual increase in transit fees.

City staff estimated that fare-free transit would cost a homeowner an assessment of $415,000 plus an additional $482 a year in property taxes. For someone in an $800,000 home, the tax increase would be $930.

Scenario two would cost those owners an additional $162 and $313 per year, respectively. The latter scenario, ending the annual increase, would cost $11 and $22 more in taxes, respectively.

Somerset Ward County. Catherine McKenney, who is also running for mayor this fall, said they (McKenney’s preferred pronoun) support paying for the study. “It is absolutely worth looking into. We have to move towards free transit if we want a modern city that is green, healthy and connected”, they said.

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“Submitting a report showing an annual cost to each homeowner was intended to discourage conversation. But we have to have that conversation.”

Part of what fares pay for is the fare collection system itself, McKenney said: Presto cards and readers, the storefronts rented to sell tickets, fare inspectors, and so on. The issue needs to be viewed holistically, they said, with the city seeking more support from the provincial and federal governments.

“Each level of government has a goal for climate change, for reducing greenhouse gases. And a big part of that is getting cars off the road. It’s perfectly appropriate that we can appeal to other levels of government for some of that operational funding.”

Kitchissippi Ward County. Jeff Leiper, who is in favor of doing the study, admitted it was “a very high bar to cross” in convincing homeowners to accept higher taxes for free public transportation, but said the increase is still lower. to the $1,500 annual cost of a bus pass for one. household member.