Kamloops City Council is looking at raising the fare for transit users incrementally over the coming years.

During the Committee of the Whole session on Tuesday, May 13th, city staff presented options for raising the price that it costs to take the bus. Currently at $2 per ride, the city has not raised that price since 2011.

Transit in Kamloops has seen ridership grow over the years and reports indicate is at 115% of pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Some 400,000  rides are delivered by bus in Kamloops each month. Ridership grew by approximately 9% over the previous year, with total revenue increasing to approximately $4.5 million over the same period.  The reason revenue has not increased as much as ridership can be attributed to changes in rider behaviour. As people ride transit more often, they appear to be switching from cash fares to more economical options such as monthly passes.

Council ultimately voted for option 4:

Option 4 schedules fare increases every two years, in a tiered fashion, until 2029, offering predictability and minimizing sudden impacts on riders. This approach ensures a steady revenue stream, aligns with budget cycles, and requires long-term planning and communication. Coordination with interest holders will be essential for smooth implementation, and careful management to address cumulative ridership impacts.

Councillor Katie Neustaeter felt that the approach of a cost increase every two years provides some predictability for users. “This is saying every other year there will be a predictable, steady, palatable increase, you know, the option number three, 13% ridership decline. That’s not what we want. That doesn’t mean our climate action goals. We want something that’s layered in over time, retains all of that work that staff has done over the course of a decade.”

Although Tuesday’s discussion centered around the price of a bus ride, there was also some councillors bringing forward ideas to expand the transit system. Mike O’Reilly didn’t have too much concern about the cost. “The only real complaints or concerns I hear about our transit services, is they they want more of it. They want more consistency and more predictability. I really haven’t heard that conversation around a fare.”

Councillor Stephen Karpuk echoed those comments. “Look at the North Shore exchange and the downtown exchange. We have a bus that goes from the downtown exchange all the way out to the end of West side and then all the way back as one bus, or all the way out to Crestline at one bus. When are we going to look at the possibility, perhaps, where, where efficiencies can be made, where we’re going from transit hub to transit hub as a linked bus and having local routes that circle around those towns and hubs rather than one bus that tries to do all the above.”

The city has received approval from BC Transit for 8000 additional hours of regular service & 1500 hours for Handy Dart. What exactly that looks like is still being determined.

Council will have to revisit this conversation at a regular meeting of Council before the changes can be finalized.