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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Highway Robbery

Well... Today STARTED off great... Was short lived though. I went to get my bus pass. They had raised it July 1rst, then AGAIN (I don't know when) but I know why! BECAUSE THEY ARE GREEDY BASTARDS! Literally robbing us blind because they know we have NO choice but to pay it because public transportation is an essential public service.

It BLOWS my mind that they can get away with it!!! They moved the ticket place at Lincoln Fields because they are doing some renos for a few months. The line is mostly outside, which wouldn't have been a problem had it NOT been RAINING and had the ONLY person at the ONE wicket didn't decide to take a 10 minute break while they left like 30 people in line to get SOAKED.

They just raised it, then they raise it AGAIN???!!! Like c'mon! It's already the highest in CANADA. While the service keeps getting worse! And the buses are always FILTHY. I actually saw a cockroach on a bus as recently as last week! I'm dead serious! A live cockroach.

Tell me WHAT are they DOING to make the raises justifiable? I'd understand if the service was better. If a lot of the drivers weren't assh*les...

I'd love to see the public go on strike for at least a week. I know that wouldn't happen, but I'd love to see a revolt. If nothing gets done about it, nothing will change. It really is DISGUSTING that they take advantage of the public like this. They should be ASHAMED of themselves.

At least I'm not going to be in the lineup tomorrow... At least I'm finally HOME after a long ass night shift. I would have gone after work, but I decided to go to a meeting. First one in a couple of months.... I liked it, it was nice. A HUGE group though. I wasn't expecting it to be so BIG there. They have couches in there, which was sooooo nice after work! Then they invited me to go to Starbucks with the group afterwards. Which I did, and was also nice, that had set the tone for MOST of my morning, UNTIL... I had to stand in a LONG lineup, in the RAIN to get my pass which was raised AGAIN... I wasn't expecting that, at all.

There are over 1,000,000 people in Ottawa... Granted a LOT of people own vehicles... Even say, if 2% of the residents take the bus, (it's probably higher than 2%) That's around 200,000 people.

There are reductions for people who have Ontario Disability Support Program payments seniors. let's say a 5th of them have such reductions...
So a 5th of 20,000 is 4,000 people...    $40.75.... Which comes to $163,000

That's still 16,000 people....

Now out of that 16,000 people we gotta count the students out. Students also get a discount.
I will guess about 10% from that.

1,600 students.... $80.25 for REGULAR pass. $94.25 for an EXPRESS pass...
Let's say 70% of the students get a regular pass and 30% get an express pass....
1,120 students (regular) and 480 students (express)...  Comes to $89,880 + $45,240 = $135,120

We're already up to $298,120 (monthly)

Then there is 144,000 MORE people paying.... And Kids over 6 years old have to pay, also.
If even 5% of the rest of the 144,000 are kids.... That would still be 7,200 kids. Kids' fares are $1.85 per ride.

Leaving 136,800 adults paying full pop....

Not to mention TICKETS that are bought and used...

Transit Fares

The following transit fares will be effective as of July 1, 2014.

PER MONTH

AdultRegular
Routes
$100.75
Student (13-19)$80.25
AdultExpress
and Regular
Routes 
$124.25
Student (13-19)$94.25
Senior 65+$40.75
Community Pass$40.75

PER RIDE

 

PER DAY

 PRESTOCashTickets* DayPass
Adult &
Student 
(13-19)
Regular
Routes
$2.77$3.452


$8.10
Senior 65+$2.09$2.60
Adult, Senior 65+ & 
Student 
(13-19)
Express
Routes 
$4.18$4.903
Child (6-12)All Routes$1.53$1.851
Child (5 and under)FREE
* Bus tickets (yellow) cost $1.55 each
  • PRESTO card ....................................................... $6.00
  • Adult Photo Identification card ................................ $8.50
  • Student (13-19) Photo Identification card ................... $6.25

O-TRAIN FARES

PER RIDE

 

PER MONTH

 

PER DAY

 CashTicketsPRESTO All Passes DayPass
Adult &
Student
 (13-19)
$3.45Not Accepted$2.77Accepted
as Full Fare
$8.10
Senior 65+ $2.60$2.09
Child 6-12$1.85$1.53
Child (5 and under)FREE
POP transfers from other routes are valid before the expiry time to board the O-Train. PRESTO POP transfer is also accepted.
DayPass fare also accepted as Family DayPass fare on weekends and holidays

PARA TRANSPO FARES

 

PER RIDE

 

PER MONTH

 CashTickets Community
Pass
Senior PassRegular Pass
Adult &
Student
(13-19)
Mon - Fri
after 9 am,
Saturdays,
Sundays &
Statutory Holidays
Adult &
Student
 (13-19)
$2.752PLUS
$2.05 or
1 ticket
  
Senior 65+$2.10
Mon - Fri
6:30 am -
8:59 am
All Riders$4.203PLUS
$2.05 or
1 ticket
PLUS
$1.45 or
1 ticket
All TimesChild 6-12$1.551   
Rural Flat RateAll Riders$8.60*Passes are NOT accepted for trips
to or from the Para Rural Zone.
Tickets are accepted at face value towards the $8.60 fare. Can be combined with cash. 

EXPRESS FARE TOP-UP

If your monthly pass or POP transfer is for regular-fare routes, you have
to pay a ‘top-up’ fare when you board an express premium fare bus.
 

PER RIDE

 

MONTHLY PASS

 

DAYPASS /
FAMILY PASS

 AdultSenior 65+ RegularSenior 65+Express No Top-Up
Cash$1.45$2.30$1.45No Top-Up
Tickets111
PRESTO$1.41$2.09$1.41


Parking Permits:


  • Gold Park & Ride permits ....... $53.50
  • Regular Park & Ride permits where required ... $23.50


I couldn't find an up to date audit... This was from 4 years ago...  

The 2010 OC Transpo gross operating expenditure budget was $367 million.
The “Operations” budget line of the 2010 budget - includes all bus operator 'costs' - was $142 million. OC Transpo delivers transit and para-transit services across an area of more than 442 square kilometres.

The OC Transpo system delivers approximately 90 million passenger trips annually... 
So let's do the math on this...
90 million/year
7,500,000/month!
1,875,000/week!
267,857/day!


The fleet includes more than 1,000 active service buses,
and the bus service features 250+ bus routes with approximately 6,400 stops.

OC Transpo services are delivered by approx. 3,000 mostly unionized employees.
The logistics, labour relations, and financial management challenges associated
with planning and scheduling the work of OC Transpo bus operations/operators within this complex and dynamic transit system are significant.....

Ouch! My head hurts. I need to sleep. This is making my head spin. 

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