Bad timing for HSR fare hike

Now is not the time for yet another increase in Hamilton bus fares.

By Robert Howard, Last Updated Thursday, November 13, 2008

Published in the Hamilton Spectator as an editorial on November 12, 2008.

Now is not the time for yet another increase in Hamilton bus fares. City council should reject the proposed HSR fare increase and tell city staff that the HSR will have to make do with what it's got for at least this budget year.

The HSR faces a constant struggle to balance demands for service improvements with hostility to fare increases. Riders want convenience -- more buses more often on more routes -- but don't want to pay more for it.

The cost of an HSR monthly pass has already risen 22 per cent since 2007 -- from $65 to the present $79. Last year, cash fares were hiked twice, from $2.10 to $2.40. Now, staff want to see those go to $2.50. A monthly pass would go to $84. It's just too much.

What's 10 cents -- one lousy dime?

It's just one more straw on the camel's back, one more slice in the death by a thousand cuts, one more measure that has its greatest impact on Hamilton's working poor and other low-income groups.

Fifty thousand Hamiltonians are counted by Statistics Canada as either working poor, on Canada Works (welfare) or Ontario Disability Support Program. For them, the bus is often the only option to get to work, search for a job, buy groceries or get to an appointment. If you're taking children along the fare increases add up even more. In a time and city when so many jobs are minimum-wage and/or part-time, commuting literally takes food off the table.

Half-price passes for low-income earners are off to a slow start -- only 500 people got them in 2008. People on assistance don't qualify.

The HSR is expecting ridership growth this year -- but a fare increase could undo that. Past HSR reports have noted a 15-cent fare increase results in 600,000 fewer rides in a year.

In Toronto, people of all ages and incomes take buses, trolleys or subways. But in Hamilton, transit is largely used by those who don't have an option -- students, people on limited income, seniors and so on. That's not good, and reversing that pattern is one of the objectives in getting light-rail transit in Hamilton. A healthy community has thriving public transit. But that's in the future.

The Spectator has historically supported reasonable HSR fare hikes. But at this time, when some of our poorest citizens are taking the brunt of the economic downturn, fares should remain stable.

The HSR budget is expected to increase by $2.3 million next year, largely because of pension costs. The proposed fare hike would generate $1.3 million. Council should tell HSR to find other ways to balance its books -- and a property tax increase isn't an option.

The HSR can put its expansion plans on hold for now, or shuffle existing resources. But, to use an old expression, it has to cut its coat according to its cloth.