Kelowna considers cut to cost of bus pass for low-income riders

The cost of a bus pass in Kelowna went up recently, but now the city wants to cut that price in half for people who need it most.

At a meeting today, April 13, city council told staff to continue working on a program for an affordable transit plan that would give low-income residents a discount.

“I just think it’s the right thing to do for our community and the right thing to do for those that are on limited income and want to get transportation throughout the city, so I think it’s a good investment and I’m happy to support it,” councillor Luke Stack said.

It would cut the cost of a monthly bus pass from $80 to $40, HandyDART rates from $15 to $7.50 and regular day passes from $6 to $3.

The affordable transit plan would launch in 2027 and it would help low-income transit riders save on their bus pass. Transit riders who want the discount would have to apply online and get their income verified.

The city expects that the program would cost a total of $279,851 a year and help increase ridership by 146,888 rides per year.

There’s an existing program through the United Way BC, the Emergency Transit Assistance Program, that gives people free access to use transit in case of an emergency.

But this program is for people using transit regularly making less than $21,000 or a household income of around $40,000 a year for a family of four.

On Oct. 1, BC Transit increased all fares including DayPASS prices from $5 to $6 and monthly bus passes from $70 to $80. It also eliminated the 90-minute window for transfers, 10 ride fares and paper tickets.

A survey conducted by the city found that more than 60 per cent of respondents had reduced their transit use because of increasing costs.

“I’m actually optimistic. It’s going to improve our ridership on the bus service, which will help offset the cost of this program,” councillor Stack said.

The operation of the Kelowna Regional Transit System is subcontracted to the private French company Transdev, whose contract was quietly renewed recently.