Bus pass program can't continue without proper provincial funding, says St. John's councillor
St. John's councilor says city can't run the program with less funding and more users
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has promised to expand a program to give bus passes to more residents of St. John's, Mount Pearl and Paradise, but a St. John's city councillor says there may not be enough money to keep the program going.
In 2020, the province committed $2.1 million annually to the program, which provides people who receive income with free Metrobus or Go Bus passes.
Thursday's provincial budget pledged to expand the program to include low-income seniors and youth in care, but also cut the funding to $1.9 million a year.
Coun. Ian Froude says that means the program will no longer have the funding it needs to keep going.
"We need the $2.1 million or the program is very unlikely to exist going forward," Froude said.
"That lower amount was was extremely frustrating to see."
He said the City of St. John's has been in talks with the province about the program and were adamant that they couldn't go lower than the original amount to run the program.
"With the inclusion of the [guaranteed income supplement] recipients, that means we lose $100,000 in revenue on the other side. So it's a $300,000 hole that they created in the public transit budget."
Froude said that money makes a big difference in the already strained public transit budget. He said all the buses run on diesel, and this year's unexpected rise in prices is causing a significant spending increase.
"With the increasing cost of diesel, it has made it extremely difficult to budget the public transit service in the city," said Froude.
"We're in the range of $1 million over on diesel costs."
Froude said the pandemic has also affected bus usage.
"Due to various lockdowns and and people's mentality around being out on the go, the ridership is also not what it typically is on transit."
Despite the rising costs and a cut in funding, Froude said the city recognizes the importance of the program and wants to continue it.
"We know that this program matters to a lot of people. There's about 5,600 people in those three communities that use the service, and we want that to continue," he said.
Froude said he and Mayor Danny Breen were in conversation with the province about the lowered amount after the budget was released.
"We're hoping that that they do some thinking and come back come back to us with the additional $200,000. And we can move forward with confidence so that those 5,000 to 10,000 individuals in St. John's, Mount Pearl and Paradise can have reliable transportation going forward."
They added more user groups while reducing the budget from 2.1M to 1.9M. Of course I want youth in care and low income seniors to use the bus for free, I agree with those additions. It’s just that they knew the cost of adding them, and decided NOT to pay for it. 3/
—@mmburtonOn Twitter, Coun. Maggie Burton expressed many of the same sentiments.
She said she is disappointed in the provincial government and feels they have no respect for the city's services.
"They announced it without an agreement with the transit authority and city," Burton said.
She asked the government to "make it right" and restore the funding to its original amount.
We are faced with rising costs for the cost of diesel, and soon enough for the electrification of fleet and service improvements to meet GHG reduction targets. We cannot do this without our provincial and federal partners unless bus users + city taxpayers foot the entire bill 7/
—@mmburtonIn a statement, the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development said the budget for the program was negotiated with Metrobus.
"We are committed to continue working with the City of St. John's and Metrobus to get the program rolled out for all income support recipients, and new this year, seniors who receive guaranteed income supplement and youth receiving services from the youth services program."
With files from Darrell Roberts