November 03, 2005
By Mike RutaStaff Writer
DURHAM -- A regional councillor is vowing to bring a busload of seniors to Durham headquarters later this month to protest proposed transit fare increases.
Durham Region's Regional Transportation Implementation Committee (RTIC) approved a transit fare schedule at Tuesday's meeting. The bottom line is that fares are going up, virtually across the board, when the Region takes over transit in January. And since Ajax-Pickering Transit Authority (APTA) riders currently enjoy the lowest fares in the region, they will end up paying more when region-wide fares are introduced.
West Durham seniors, in particular, will feel the pinch. The cash fare and multi-ride cost is going up 66 per cent, while a monthly pass is slated to increase $15, up from the current $20, for a 75-per cent hike. Regional council must still approve the fares.
"It's going to declare war on the seniors of Ajax and Pickering," said Pickering Regional Councillor Maurice Brenner in an interview.
He said Pickering is prepared to provide a bus, ironically an APTA bus that will become a Durham Region Transit bus in two months, so seniors can go to a Durham council meeting and be heard. Coun. Brenner said he and Pickering Ward 2 City Councillor Doug Dickerson met with members of the South Pickering Seniors Club Tuesday.
"They were just beside themselves in terms of the impact," he said.
Coun. Brenner said the seniors are active and travel around a lot, especially within the city. At the same time, many can no longer drive a car and count on public transit.
"They're really upset and it's not fair," said club president Cynthia Campbell, who expects many seniors to attend the meeting. "I don't think it's fair to saddle the seniors with such a hike and I want to know how they will justify it."
Many seniors live on fixed incomes and have no pension or a meagre one, she said, noting they have no way of coming up with more money.
Pickering Ward 2 Regional Councillor Bill McLean at Wednesday's regional finance and administration committee meeting said it was "absolutely disgusting" that west Durham seniors would have to cough up so much. He said had he known, he would not have supported regional transit.
"There is a groundswell that's going to be arising," he told committee members, referring to numerous phone calls he's fielded. "This is unacceptable."
Council was to have dealt with the fares Nov. 9. However Durham Chairman Roger Anderson moved the item to the Nov. 30 council meeting, before which the RTIC will meet again. He told councillors Wednesday the delay was "fair" to give all concerned time to review the fares, and for the councillor (Brenner) "to rev up his troops." He also noted several councillors are busy or away on the ninth.
In an interview, Mr. Anderson said Coun. Brenner's was "a legitimate concern." However he defended the fare structure.
"What this report does is treat everybody fair or equally unfair, depending on what side of the report you're looking at," he said.
Mr. Anderson said lowering fares across the region to bring them closer to APTA levels was "an option." But then regional taxpayers would have to kick in more money to offset the costs, he said.
"It's a bit of a Catch-22," he said.
Seniors in Clarington, Oshawa and Whitby who use a monthly pass will see the only fare reductions. The latter currently pay $40 while in the other two communities it's $42. The proposed rate under Durham Region Transit is $35.
|
