Public transit systems across Canada are grappling with revenue shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, in many cases, reduced ridership has been slower to rebound than anticipated.
But experts say solutions such as hiking fares while reducing service – particularly as living costs rise – is a "Catch-22" that could alienate old and new riders, creating the potential for continuous financial problems and cuts.
"If you couple the increased cost with the decreased service levels, it's certainly not going to help in terms of attracting ridership."Cherise Burda, executive director of Toronto Metropolitan University's City Building research initiative, says experience and research indicate that more reliable and rapid service is what will increase ridership and turn public transit's "death spiral" into an "upward, virtuous spiral.
The organization says it expects ridership to be about 70 to 80 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels this year. No rate hikes are in the works, but last July fares were streamlined depending on where people live. In Vancouver, transit fares increased by an average of 2.3 per cent last July under an agreement with the provincial government to limit price hikes.
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