rebrand fare inspectors as community safety officers and have their mandate be more geared toward improving the customer service aspect of transit, with a small focus on fare enforcement. that would show the investment in transit as a public service and help users with navigation, etiquette, and feeling safe. you can only increase ridership if you improve the service to compete with the alternatives.
On fares it’s important to understand that fares do not pay for service, at best they reduce public funding, at worse they cost more. At the beginning of the pandemic some cities made transit fare free, and they saw a 18 to 26% speed increase. Meaning that in those cities, they are literally buying buses, running cost and maintenance just to collect fares! In Ottawa because we switched to RFID payment card (PRESTO) we slowed down service by about 22% compared to the previous pass system. None of the fares goes towards service. We’re losing money. Also as long as we keep collecting fares right wing politicians will demand, incorrectly, to see what revenue was collected per route. Negating the network effect and is always a fool’s errand. Fare free transit, precedes good service and is necessary. There’s no fares at the library or for the fire service. We need to get rid of this artefact from the time transit was provided by private companies, which all lost money. And last point, the fare inspection program costs over 1,2 million. Meaning that even if everyone paid their tickets, we lost money. Which is inline with most systems. The road to good transit in Ottawa starts with fare free transit, meaning stable funding which OC Management can rely on to plan the network.
About Tewin: Why cannot the Taggarts be given referral to the Province to create it as a town, using wells for water and apply to the province about sewage and other services, and roads? That removes it from Ottawa’s responsibility. They still have not apparently converted the land they cut the forest from to be used for agriculture, nor reported how much money they got for the logs.
Salt - perception by many contractors is that it is to stop slipping. More education needs to be given for the temperature it is effective to melt ice. I do not understand why it is not mixed with grit to do what people want to protect from falls. Reduce amount of salt in the mix. Is my logic faulty?
I witnessed 2 inspectors harassing a woman with a small child. I offered to pay her fare and they still kicked her off the bus. They were nasty to her and she was very threatened and left stranded in the cold.
rebrand fare inspectors as community safety officers and have their mandate be more geared toward improving the customer service aspect of transit, with a small focus on fare enforcement. that would show the investment in transit as a public service and help users with navigation, etiquette, and feeling safe. you can only increase ridership if you improve the service to compete with the alternatives.
On fares it’s important to understand that fares do not pay for service, at best they reduce public funding, at worse they cost more. At the beginning of the pandemic some cities made transit fare free, and they saw a 18 to 26% speed increase. Meaning that in those cities, they are literally buying buses, running cost and maintenance just to collect fares! In Ottawa because we switched to RFID payment card (PRESTO) we slowed down service by about 22% compared to the previous pass system. None of the fares goes towards service. We’re losing money. Also as long as we keep collecting fares right wing politicians will demand, incorrectly, to see what revenue was collected per route. Negating the network effect and is always a fool’s errand. Fare free transit, precedes good service and is necessary. There’s no fares at the library or for the fire service. We need to get rid of this artefact from the time transit was provided by private companies, which all lost money. And last point, the fare inspection program costs over 1,2 million. Meaning that even if everyone paid their tickets, we lost money. Which is inline with most systems. The road to good transit in Ottawa starts with fare free transit, meaning stable funding which OC Management can rely on to plan the network.
About Tewin: Why cannot the Taggarts be given referral to the Province to create it as a town, using wells for water and apply to the province about sewage and other services, and roads? That removes it from Ottawa’s responsibility. They still have not apparently converted the land they cut the forest from to be used for agriculture, nor reported how much money they got for the logs.
Salt - perception by many contractors is that it is to stop slipping. More education needs to be given for the temperature it is effective to melt ice. I do not understand why it is not mixed with grit to do what people want to protect from falls. Reduce amount of salt in the mix. Is my logic faulty?
City Hall lockdown with two of the panelists and Sue Sherring! https://bellscorners.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/city-hall-lockdown/
Thanks, another great show! If Sue Sherring were still around she’d LOVE the Municipal Panel. Amazing that her stories are still available online! (for now) https://ottawasun.com/2013/05/18/skippy-aka-mp-pierre-poilievre-has-sunk-to-new-low-sherring https://ottawasun.com/author/susan-sherring/
I witnessed 2 inspectors harassing a woman with a small child. I offered to pay her fare and they still kicked her off the bus. They were nasty to her and she was very threatened and left stranded in the cold.