(06-14-2023, 09:15 PM)tomh009 Wrote: About a 2% increase to both monthly passes and EasyGO fare payments, well below inflation.
Have you noticed how much car, car insurance and gasoline prices have gone up in the past few years?
Whether or not it is below inflation doesn't matter. People are still struggling to afford life. Sure a mere 24 extra dollars on a transit pass per year may not be a lot of money to someone like you or I, but for others any sort of cost increase can be extremely hard. The elderly with low pensions, students, those on ODSP or even just people making minimum wage (or hell even low 20s) feel every little cost increase they are faced with. They only just recently increased the fares and if you followed the public reaction to that online, people were pretty upset with that. Now they want to raise them even more.
Granted, I realize the fares have on average been lower here in Waterloo Region than elsewhere which is great for people. But the cost increases are going to make people start to struggle. Worse, it'll make people start to pivot away from transit use (even if that will ultimately cost them more). Time is an extremely valuable commodity, so buying an old beater can often much more useful to someone if it means they don't have to spend 2+ hours taking an unreliable bus around the city all day or have to worry about having a bicycle regularly stolen or showing up to work smelling and having your hair screwed up from a helmet.
GRT could easily save money too. How many tens of thousands of dollars did they just burn wrapping buses in stupid pride flags, silk screening shirts and getting rainblow sunglasses with the GRT logo made? Just for empty virtue signaling. I can't speak for all people obviously, but I'm not even heterosexual myself and I don't feel like I need a "Ride with Pride" rainbow sticker by the door to let me know I can be comfortable riding the bus. Serves no purpose other than to burn tax dollars.