Brampton Aiming to Make Bus Passes Free for Seniors by 2020
Published April 5, 2019 at 5:08 pm
Here’s some good news for senior citizens in Brampton — and it may be coming a lot sooner than originally anticipated.
Here’s some good news for senior citizens in Brampton — and it may be coming a lot sooner than originally anticipated.
In a city council meeting on Wednesday, March 20, council unanimously passed a motion to reduce the cost of a monthly bus pass to $15 for seniors (a huge drop from its original price of $52).
The motion was brought forward by Councillor Gurpreet Singh Dhillon, who added an amendment to also have the pass be made completely free for seniors by 2022.
However, council is working on phasing this change in sooner, with a goal of providing seniors with free monthly bus passes as early as next year, 2020, according to Mayor Patrick Brown.
The March 20 report was prepared to inform council on the impacts of providing reduced Brampton Transit fares to seniors, as well as consider providing reduced fares for persons with disabilities as well.
According to the report, discounting transit fares for seniors will result in an estimated annual revenue loss to the city ranging from $400,000-$450,000 (for a reduced $15 senior monthly pass) to $1.2 million (for a free fare senior pass).
These changes were deliberated in a meeting for the 2019 budget on Wednesday, March 27.
Council is expected to continue discussion on this task at a later date.
For non-senior citizens who are having trouble affording a monthly pass, Peel Region allows eligible residents to apply for a discount.
Are you in favour of the city rolling out free monthly passes for seniors by 2020?