Dark side to success of low-income transit pass
Demand for Calgary’s new $5.05 monthly transit pass has exceeded expectations, with nearly 40,000 of the steeply discounted passes sold to Calgarians living in extreme poverty during the program’s first three months.
Advocates say while it’s encouraging that low-income earners can now get to appointments, job interviews, classes and the grocery store for just five dollars and five cents a month, the demand demonstrates just how much work remains to lift Calgarians out of poverty.
“(The numbers) speak to a much bigger problem out there ... a lot of Calgarians aren’t doing well,” said Colleen Huston, a co-ordinator with Disability Action Hall.
“(Council) can only do BandAid solutions like the low-income transit pass for so long. We’re really hoping our city takes a stand on basic income and pressures the province to look at reform.”
Launched in April after it was approved by council last summer, the new program replaces a $44 lowincome monthly transit pass with a sliding scale that offers fare discounts depending on the income of a household.
A single Calgarian who makes less than $12,474 a year, for example, now pays just $5.05 for a monthly transit pass.
Calgarians purchasing a lowincome pass now shell out either $5.05, $35.35 or $50.50 under the new fare structure, instead of the $101 that a regular adult monthly transit pass costs.
Preliminary numbers from Calgary Transit show 37,472 Calgarians purchased the $5.05 monthly pass in the program’s first three months — 10,394 bought the pass in April, a number that increased to 12,915 people in May and to 14,163 passes sold in June.
The $35.35 version of the lowincome transit pass was accessed by 27,789 people over the threemonth period, while the $50.50 pass was purchased by 4,503 people in the same time period.
Altogether, 69,764 people purchased a low-income transit pass in April, May and June of this year, compared with 56,173 people over the same time period last year, before the sliding scale was in place.
Ward 11 Coun. Brian Pincott, who urged his colleagues last year to approve steeper pass discounts than initially proposed, said the numbers are scary.
“There’s a need,” said Pincott. “To see that need is particularly at the $5 end — that’s people who have less than $12,000 a year in income — that’s insane we have that many people in that category in the city.”
“It’s great that we’re providing this,” Pincott said. “To me, it underlines how much we have to do around poverty reduction.”
Amber Cannon, a Calgary blogger who writes about poverty, expressed surprise at just how many people are accessing the low-income pass and said the new sliding scale has meant a lot to people she’s spoken with.
For some, it means a few extra dollars every month to put toward groceries, while for others it means no longer having to risk being ticketed because they can’t afford a train trip.
Cannon said for Calgarians who receive income support through the province’s Alberta Works program, the new transit pass doesn’t equal a few extra dollars in their pocket for necessities every month because the subsidy recipients now receive for transit has been changed to match whichever pass they’re eligible for.
Melanie Hulsker, manager of strategic services for Calgary Neighbourhoods, said the pass numbers are already higher than projected and demonstrate there was a need in the community for the program, which is believed to be the first of its kind in Canada.
Staff who sell the passes have heard a range of stories from Calgarians happy to have access to transit for $5.05 a month, including a woman who said the initiative has allowed her family to finally travel places together.
“That’s definitely an example of how this can be life changing,” said Hulsker. “Where before she could only buy one pass for an entire family, and now they can go out and buy a pass for every member of the family.”