City rolling out bus fare changes

Transit rates will be changing in Prince George.

In their presentation to council tonight, BC Transit said the city currently has 16 fixed transit routes and travels 4046 kms/day. According to them, the changes are recommended to prepare the city for the future of fare collection and align with fare structures across the province.

They presented two options to council:  

Option 1 Proposes modest increases to monthly and semester pass fares to address concerns regarding affordability as outlined in the Prince George Age Friendly Action Plan

Option 2 Proposes further increases to the student/senior monthly and semester pass fares in order to fully align the Prince George Transit fare structure to BC Transit’s Fare Guidelines Forecasts the largest increase in revenue on account of increases to monthly and semester pass fares, resulting in a larger projected increase in revenue, but a lower projected increase in ridership as explained in Table 5

As part of the changes, BC Transit will be rolling out public information sessions prior to the change in September.

They are looking to make a number of advancements to transit in Prince George, including a GPS system where riders can see where their bus is in real time.

One issue highlighted by Councillor Murry Krause is the 25 cent price hike for the handy dart service though there isn’t a day pass, which BC Transit said is due to improvements they will be making to that service.

Adult tickets will be staying the same at $2.50 while students and senior’s tickets will be going up by 50 cents to $2.50.

The most notable of the changes will be a ten dollar increase to the Student Semester Pass, from $125.00 to $135.00.