Region gets it right on transit cost

I’m not one to believe in signs. When someone gets up and starts blathering on about living in the end times or some other such thing, I tend to roll my eyes and pass them a tin foil hat.

If I were the sort to believe in omens and portents, however, a recent decision by Niagara regional council would leave me wondering if Ragnarok is, in fact, on its way.

The council best known for its butter fingers and bad choices has done something so unexpected, so unusual and so out of character that a cleric might interpret it as the harbinger of ill times.

Niagara’s regional council has done a good thing.

Nay, it is a great thing that could help struggling people in Niagara. It’s the kind of decision that really won’t benefit a single member of the council in any particular fashion, but it will make life a little easier for our neighbours who need a break.

The really weird part? This particular move was spearheaded by a councillor who has made dining upon his own feet an actual art form.

So let it not be said that I won’t give credit where it is due.

Thanks to a report on regional transit — a report that got going at the behest of St. Catharines regional councillor Andy Petrowski — fares for low-income riders have been dramatically reduced.

See what I mean? The Fimbulwinter must be upon us.

Now for many people, slashing fares on regional transit to $50 a month from $160 for low-income riders might not seem like a big deal. After all, $110 doesn’t actually go all that far these days.

Unless, that is, you are among those living on or below the Statistics Canada lowincome threshold, which is $22,160 for a single person or $44,320 for a family of four.

These are people who sometimes have to make the choice between rent and groceries. In that case, $110 might be the difference between eating or having a place to stay.

At the moment, there are no effective, affordable means to travel around Niagara if you don’t have a car. And in a region where jobs can be hard to come by, this is a problem.

A person living in St. Catharines might be able to find work in Welland, but without the means to get down Highway 406 Welland might as well be Vancouver.

Keep in mind, the acute issue in Niagara is not just a dearth of jobs, but a lack of employment with a meaningful wage.

Some context here is valuable: According to a May report by the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network, the cost of living for a family of four in the region was $65,435, while the median income was only $69,000.

It’s worth noting this calculation assumes a family of four with both parents working. And, the report was released before housing prices in Niagara skyrocketed.

Remember, median income is the halfway mark between lowest and highest incomes. That means half of Niagara incomes are less than $69,000.

Those in the lower half of the lowest half are people working part-time jobs, often more than one, at minimum wage. This is why, for instance, Niagara’s food banks are under constant pressure. Many of our neighbours simply don’t earn enough to put food on the table every week.

It is also why the Region’s social assistance budget is $1.3 million in the red. Demand for help has drastically outstripped projections.

There are some programs to help people find a job. For instance, those on social assistance can receive up to $250 a year to help them secure work. The money can be used to buy clothes for interviews, equipment necessary for a job, or transportation.

But now consider that bus fare. If you are travelling from the Garden City to the Rose City for a minimum-wage gig, shelling out $160 a month for the bus could make getting to work cost-prohibitive.

So it’s easy to see how slashing the fare can make a person’s life more manageable and prevent them from having to turn to social assistance programs.

Making bus passes more affordable isn’t the silver bullet to kill Niagara’s economic woes, but it is a significant move in the right direction.

I don’t say this often, and I don’t expect to repeat it much in the future, but on this file regional council deserves a pat on the back.