B.C. Transit is looking for feedback on proposed fare increases for Greater Victoria bus riders.
The agency says it could improve bus service if single-trip fares were raised to $2.75 or $3 per trip by 2025. Fares have been $2.50 a trip since 2010.
A recently released survey from B.C. Transit offers four options.
The first two options would see single-trip fares increase to $2.55 in 2024 and $2.75 in 2025, with day passes increasing to $5.10 and $5.50 respectively; one option would see the 30-day concession pass cost $50 in 2025, while in the other, it would cost $55.
The other two options would see the single-trip fare and day pass fare increase to $3 and $6 respectively in 2025, with one option opting for a more gradual increase spread across the two years rather than a sharp jump in 2025.
In nearly all options, the price of the adult 30-day pass — which currently costs $85 — would remain unchanged, but in one option it would increase to $90.
The primary financial pressures on B.C. Transit according to their service plans are the high and potentially volatile price of fuel, increasing asset costs driven by the adoption of electronic fare collection system Umo and the transition toward electric buses, as well as the Canadian exchange rate as many assets have parts involving U.S. or European manufacturers.
The latest B.C. Transit service plan shows an expected $987,000 decrease in provincial operating revenue by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Projected operations and maintenance expenses are both expected to fall in the next two years from about $229.6 million to $223.9 million and $81.5 million to $79.9 million respectively.
Administrative expenses are expected to increase from $41.5 million to $45.9 million in the next two years.
Provincial funding for transit across B.C. is set to decrease by $1.2 million in the next two years even as B.C. sets targets for transit ridership to increase by 10 million.
At the same time, B.C. Transit is collecting responses for another survey to help it make the decision between providing good crosstown service or extensive local coverage of communities.
It has proposed a new 40 route, which would run from Esquimalt via Admirals Road and McKenzie Avenue to UVic, likely at the expense of route 24 and 25 coverage.
Routes 9 and 11 are also being looked at for coverage tweaks, though B.C. Transit has already indicated that it will reverse the changes to route 11 that reduced local service coverage in the Gorge-Tillicum neighbourhood after neighbourhood protests.
The changes could come into effect in April during the spring service change.
Input from both surveys will be reviewed at a future commission meeting.
To participate in the fare increase survey, visit https://engage.bctransit.com/victoria-fare-review. To participate in the service change survey for January and April 2024, visit https://engage.bctransit.com/january-and-april-2024-service-change-survey.
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