OC Transpo Fare System

Restructuring to Coordinate with

the O-Train Confederation Line

Multimodal Operations

June 7, 2016 Technical Briefing

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Premium Fares – Current

• OC Transpo currently charges a premium fare on

direct-to-downtown “Express” routes, which operate

from Kanata/Stittsville, Barrhaven, and Orléans to

downtown;

• Adult express fare (+23 per cent to +50 per cent

surcharge);

• Student express fare (+17 per cent surcharge); and

• No premium has ever been charged on 90-series rapid

transit routes, nor on direct-to-downtown routes from

locations inside the greenbelt or from the south.

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Premium Fares: Why is Change Needed? • With the expansion of the Transitway system and improvements

to the transit network, “Express” routes are no longer clearly

distinct from regular-fare routes;

• With the opening of the O-Train Confederation Line, all current

“Express” routes will change to Connexion routes;

• There will be no difference in service quality between former

“Express” routes and other routes connecting to the O-Train

Confederation Line;

• Charging a premium fare on some routes or trips would be

inequitable and would reduce service quality to everyone; and,

• It will not be possible nor practical to charge premium fares in the

afternoon; doing so would impact service and increase costs.

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The Evolution of the Express Distinction

Historical Express Service Characteristic Current Status

Transfer-free trips to downtown Also available since the 1980s on Transitway

bus routes from all districts

Limited-stop trips to downtown Also available on Transitway bus routes from

all districts, stopping only at stations

Consistently available in suburban areas Some newer suburban areas served only by

regular-fare bus routes

Seat availability on high-floor buses Entire fleet converted to low-floor buses

(reduced seats; some customers stand)

Lower-fare customers excluded The adoption of the U-Pass and Community

Pass has opened “Express” routes to these

customers

Higher fares to cover higher operating costs Operating cost of “Express” routes now similar

to operating cost of regular-fare bus routes

2018: LRT opens “Express” service no longer provided

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In 2018, the Express distinction

will no longer exist

Historical Express Characteristic 2018 Status

Transfer-free trips to downtown Customers from Kanata, Barrhaven and

Orléans on Rapid, Connexion and Local

routes will complete their trips on the O-

Train Confederation Line

Higher fares to cover higher operating cost Operating cost of future Connexion routes

will be similar to operating cost of regular-

fare bus routes

Premium fare charged/checked when

customers board

Customers will no longer pay/prove their

fare when transferring at major transfer

stations, and it is not feasible to do so –

impacts on service and increases costs

• When the O-Train Confederation Line opens, feeder routes will be classified as: Rapid, Frequent, Connexion, or Local

• Connexion routes will include current express routes but also other peak-only feeder routes from neighbourhoods to the nearest O-Train station

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Fare Recalibration

• $190 million in total fare revenue needs to be maintained

to meet the objectives of the long-range financial plan for

transit;

• With the end of Express service, there will be no more

premium fares, reducing fare revenue by $6 million;

• Some fare types need to be recalibrated/adjusted:

– One monthly pass price for adults;

– One monthly pass price for students;

– One e-purse fare for adults; and,

– One cash fare for adults.

• Other fare types remain unchanged.

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Recommendations

• The removal of premium fares for express routes;

and,

• The adoption of a new recalibrated fare structure to

compensate for the reduction in fare revenue from

the removal of premium fares, as shown in the

following tables.

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Recalibrated Monthly Passes

Fare type Customers/month July 1 2016 Future

Adult express 13,000 $130.50 $112.25

Adult regular 38,000 $105.75

Student express 400 $99.00 $84.75

Student regular 14,000 $84.25

Senior 65+ 7,000 $42.75 $42.75

Community 5,700 $41.75 $41.75

Future fares in this table do not include 2017 inflationary increases.

Total fare revenue collected from monthly passes would be unchanged.

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Recalibrated Single-ride Fares

Fare type

July 1

2016

Presto

Future

Presto

July 1

2016

Ticket

No More

Tickets

July 1

2016

Cash

Future

Cash

Express $4.39 $3.30

$4.95 –

$5.15 $3.35

Regular $3.00 $3.30 $3.65

Senior 65+ $2.19 $2.50 – – $2.75 $2.55

Child 6-12 $1.61 $1.65 $1.65 – $1.90 $1.70

Child 0-5 – – – – – –

Future fares in this table do not include 2017 inflationary increases.

Total fare revenue collected from single-ride fares would be unchanged.

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Automated Fare Control Requires

Fares to be Machine-readable

• The Rapid Transit Fare Control Strategy –

implementing fare vending machines and fare gates

at stations on the O-Train Trillium Line and

Confederation Line – requires that all passes,

transfers, and other fares be machine-readable:

– Smartcards; and,

– 2D barcodes.

• Several fare types will need to be modified to meet

this requirement.

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Paper Passes and Tickets • Discontinuation of paper passes and tickets expected

since the adoption of the Presto fare payment system:

– Deferred to assist customers in the transition to

Presto;

• Paper pass and ticket usage has declined;

• Will not be feasible to use paper passes and tickets at

fare gates at O-Train stations; and,

• Monthly passes can be purchased using Presto, and

single-ride fares can be purchased using Presto e-

purse or cash:

– No financial impact to customers.

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Paper Passes and Tickets

• Paper passes and tickets will be phased out, beginning

with the pass types that have the lowest use:

– Student monthly passes in October 2016;

– Adult monthly passes in June 2017;

– Senior monthly and Community passes in August

2017; and,

– Tickets in November 2017.

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Other solutions to ensure

fares are machine-readable

• Free fares for children aged 5 or under and for seniors

on Wednesdays:

– Staff will put operational processes into place that

will allow these customers to continue to ride on all

parts of the OC Transpo system once the fare gates

are in place at O-Train stations.

• Event tickets:

– Continue existing service model for which transit

fares are included in ticket price, but with barcodes

on tickets.

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Other solutions to ensure

fares are machine-readable • U-Pass

– Working with universities and colleges on solutions to

make U-Pass machine-readable and capable of visual

inspection, so it can be used at fare gates and when

boarding buses; and,

– Pilot project with University of Ottawa underway.

• Connections with the STO

– Fare gates will read and recognize STO’s Multi Card;

and,

– Working with STO on a solution for customers who start

trip on STO and pay using non-smartcard products.

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Para Transpo Top-up

• Top-up currently required for customers who do not

have express passes, during morning peak period; and

• Originally designed to reduce demand during busy

morning peak, but effect has lessened.

• Recommendation: the removal of the requirement for

a morning top-up on Para Transpo service.

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Community Pass and Access Pass

• Community Pass currently available to ODSP recipients

and/or Para Transpo registrants, who must top-up

when travelling on Para Transpo service at all times.

• Recommendations:

– Community Pass to be offered only to customers on

ODSP, and that a top-up is not required for this

pass; and,

– A new Access Pass for Para Transpo registrants

who are not on ODSP. Access Pass would be same

price as Community Pass and provide 1/3 discount

for single-ride trips made on Para Transpo.

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New Youth Monthly Pass

• Student monthly pass currently available to students

aged 19 and under:

– Must show proof of being registered as a student.

• Recommendation: the replacement of the Student

Monthly Pass with a new Youth Monthly Pass:

– Valid for all people aged 19 and under, and would

require proof of age only;

– Extending discount to all youth reduces discount

level from 24 per cent to 23 per cent; and,

– An additional 1,400 youth customers would be

included in this redefinition.

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Day Pass

• Currently priced at $8.50;

• Available on weekdays for use by one customer; and,

• Available on weekends and some holidays for use by

up to two adults and up to four children aged 12 or

under.

• Recommendation: Day pass price to be set at 3 times

adult single-ride fare

– Clarifies the value of the day pass; and,

– Based on recommended 2016 fares, price would be

$10.00.

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New Multi-Day Pass

• Very important for Ottawa’s tourism industry.

• Recommendation: the introduction of a new multi-day

pass to be made available starting in 2018:

– Available for between 2 and 7 days;

– Available only at fare vending machines at O-Train

stations;

– Will be priced to encourage ridership and not to lose

fare revenue; and,

– Recommended prices to be considered in the 2018

budget.

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Intermodal Integrated Fares

• OC Transpo working with VIA Rail Canada to give

VIA’s customers the option of including the cost of

transit in the train fare;

• VIA already partners with other transportation

agencies;

• Tool is built into VIA’s reservation system;

• Tickets would carry barcode and visual print for fare

enforcement and inspection;

• Pricing would be set at regular fare plus any

administrative fee set in contract by VIA; and,

• Staff will work with other intercity transportation carriers

to provide the same opportunity.

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Fare Distribution Vendor Network

• Currently, OC Transpo’s current vendor network sells

paper passes and tickets;

• With the recommendation to phase out paper passes

and tickets, staff will work with vendors to explore other

products for them to offer, such as preloaded Presto

cards; and,

• Future technology improvements may also allow

vendors to offer other fare products.

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Social and Other Agencies

• Social and other agencies also provide paper tickets for

their clients;

• With the recommendation to phase out of paper tickets,

staff will make available to the agencies other ways to

prepay single-ride fares, which may include:

– Prepaid Presto cards;

– Group sales of Presto cards; or,

– Special vouchers for use by the clients of these

agencies.

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Fare Adjustment Timelines

• The City’s fiscal year is from January to December; and,

• Fare prices have historically been in effect from July to June.

• Recommendation: a new fare increase date of January 1st of each year, to be consistent with the City’s budget year:

– As part of 2017 budget, propose that the fare increase occur on January 1, 2017 instead of July 1, 2017;

– By advancing the date of change, the increase in fares can be reduced from 2.5 per cent to 1.25 per cent;

– Eases adjustment to new fare structure, while still maintaining the same amount of fare revenue budgeted for 2017;

– Excludes U-Pass, which is contractually set to increase in September of each year; and,

– U-Pass increase would remain at 2.5 per cent.

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Fare Adjustment Timelines

2015 2016 2017 2018

Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan

6 months 12 months 12 months

+2.5% Recalibrate +1.25% +2.5% +2.5%

Express Service continues until commencement of Revenue

Service of the Confederation Line

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Annual Fare Adjustments

• Recommended fare table shows a structure of

multipliers, discounts, and rounding rules to set all of

the future fare types from a base fare;

• In future years budgets, staff would calculate the base

fare using the recommended percent fare increase,

and would then recalculate all of the fare types using

this structure; and,

• Process avoids imbalances from year to year in the

overall fare structure.

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Recommended Fare Table Fare Type Price Multiplier/ discount

Base fare $3.30

Adult e-purse fare $3.30 100% of the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest nickel.

Seniors’ e-purse fare $2.50 25% discount from the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest nickel.

Child e-purse fare $1.65 50% discount from the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest nickel.

Adult cash fare $3.35 Adult e-purse fare plus $0.05

Seniors’ cash fare $2.55 Seniors’ e-purse fare plus $0.05

Child cash fare $1.70 Child e-purse fare plus $0.05

Discounted Para Transpo fare

with Access Pass

$2.20 2/3 of the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest nickel.

Rural Para Transpo fare $9.00 2.7 x the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.

Adult monthly pass $112.25 34 x the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.

Youth monthly pass $86.50 23% discount from the adult monthly pass. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.

Seniors’ monthly pass $42.75 62% discount from the adult monthly pass. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.

Community monthly pass $41.75 63% discount from the adult monthly pass. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.

Access monthly pass $41.75 63% discount from the adult monthly pass. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.

U-Pass per semester $197.52 Fixed by contract

Day pass $10.00 3 x the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.

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Para Transpo Cash Fares

• New ParaPay system is currently being tested by

customers; and,

• From July 1, 2016, a discrepancy will exist between the

approved cash fares for Para Transpo customers and

the discounted e-purse fares for conventional transit

customers.

• Recommendation:

– Hold cash fares on Para Transpo at e-Purse fares

until December 31, 2016; and,

– Reduction in fare revenue to be funded from the

capital budget for the Presto smartcard project.

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QUESTIONS?