Transit riders and watchdog groups lined up to speak out against OC Transpo’s proposed fare hikes on Monday as city staff tabled a budget that includes a 2.5 per cent increase in transit fares, while bus reliability metrics continue to fall short of their targets. Read MoreOttawa city staff tabled a budget with a 2.5 per cent fare hike while bus reliability metrics continue to fall short of their targets.
Ottawa city staff tabled a budget with a 2.5 per cent fare hike while bus reliability metrics continue to fall short of their targets.
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Transit riders and watchdog groups lined up to speak out against OC Transpo’s proposed fare hikes on Monday as city staff tabled a budget that includes a 2.5 per cent increase in transit fares, while bus reliability metrics continue to fall short of their targets.
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OC Transpo executives tabled the budget at the Nov. 24 transit committee meeting, with the $938.7 million operating budget representing a 10.8 per cent increase over the 2025 budget after seeing 11.4 per cent increase the year before.
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The 2026 draft budget includes a 2.5 per cent fare increase, which equates to an additional $4 million in revenue, while an eight per cent increase to the property tax levy equates to another $43.4 million.
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The Evening Citizen
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The rate increase means an adult monthly pass will rise from $135 in 2025 to $138.50 as of Jan. 1, 2026. Monthly passes for seniors will increase from $58.25 to $59.75 next year and single-ride tickets will increase from the current $4 to $4.10.
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“We certainly welcome the increase in the transit levy, we see this as an essential and needed investment,” said Angela Keller-Herzog, executive director of the Community Action for Environmental Sustainability (CAFES) advocacy group.
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“However, in light that we’ve just seen a significant reduction in service, we think that having a fare increase is tone deaf in terms of how this city is functioning. We don’t think it makes any sense. And we think that a fare increase in an affordability crisis is an inequitable policy choice.”
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Keller-Herzog was one of 22 public delegations who signed up to speak at the transit committee, with many pointing to bus reliability metrics that continue to fall short of targets, despite OC Transpo implementing the massive “New Ways to Bus” route overhaul in April.
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“It’s hard to square this budget’s stated theme of affordability with yet another fare increase,” said Nick Grover of Ecology Ottawa. “Everyone’s paying into OC Transpo without a clear sense of what they’re actually getting out of it. For the transit rider, the service remains unreliable, infrequent and inconsistent, and for the suburban homeowner seeing their levy increase, transit remains by and large unusable.”
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New Ways to Bus saw a reduction in service hours, Grover said, and “many commutes that have become longer, less convenient and with more transfers.”