Kids Ride Free program (children aged 12 and under) outlined in Attachment 1, Section 6.3.2 to report “Transit Fare Strategy” dated April 4, 2023…

1:43:12the transit fair strategy which is the item that we have before us for 2023 um and we're going to

1:43:19start off with a few words from Robin Garris and then a presentation by Courtney McDonald

1:43:31good morning to the mayor counselors the executive team and fellow colleagues

1:43:37thank you for the opportunity to present our transit fair strategy outlining the direction

1:43:42transit is recommending in terms of our transit fairs and fair concessions today we are going to

1:43:49ask everyone to think outside their normal comfort zone at opportunities that are available for transit

1:43:55to be forward thinking and leaders in our industry we understand that there's advantages and disadvantages

1:44:03and being leaders when it comes to change we're going to talk about transitioning to fair

1:44:09capping and loyalty programs we're also going to talk about equity as an organizational priority

1:44:17and how it fits with our plan as we meet expectations within the strategic plan and

1:44:22are navigating our future pillar now i'd like to introduce Courtney McDonald to walk us through

1:44:28the highlights of the transit fair strategy presentation thank you Courtney this presentation

1:44:40summarizes the gulf transit fair strategy to give you some background information in 2019

1:44:47the gulf transit business service review was conducted to identify what transit as well

1:44:52and what needs to change the review recommended that a gulf transit business plan be developed

1:44:57in alignment with the transportation master plan to provide direction for transit service

1:45:03the gulf transit future ready action plan was approved by council in 2021 and aims to deliver

1:45:10a more competitive convenient and reliable transit system that meets the community's needs today

1:45:16and tomorrow together the gulf transit future ready action plan and the fair strategy will

1:45:24act as the foundation for the business plan these plans will work towards growing ridership

1:45:29to achieve the transportation master plans goal of a 17 percent transit mode chair by 2051

1:45:37the gulf transit fair strategy is a comprehensive review and analysis of the fair system including

1:45:43fair programs policies pricing payment options and structures using best practices industry standards

1:45:52and community engagement results staff have recommended 16 sorry staff have developed 16

1:45:58recommendations for changes to the fair system that will modernize policies and incentivize

1:46:03ridership the goal of the fair strategy is to meet the needs of the customers today and in the future

1:46:09by creating an affordable and attractive fair system the fair strategy will also enhance the

1:46:16customer experience by simplifying the fair system and incentivizing ridership the fair

1:46:22strategy recommendations the fair strategy recommendations were developed to support city

1:46:30plans and strategies and are based on transit comparators industry best practices community

1:46:36engagement results and emerging trends and technologies over the next few slides we will

1:46:44be discussing the 16 recommendations we are recommending five changes to our fair policies

1:46:51in regards to our on your way fare cards we are recommending that all fair program users

1:46:56must have an on your way fare card except for you past customers on your way fare cards cost

1:47:02five dollars to purchase unless otherwise specified and replacement on your way fare cards will cost

1:47:08five dollars for all users currently eligible users for specialty free specialty free fare

1:47:15programs do not use an on your way fare card and going forward they will start to use them

1:47:21eligible users of specialty free fare programs will receive their first on your way fare card free

1:47:26of charge users must renew their card every five years unless specified the following programs

1:47:34fall under this condition cnib card holders veteran card holders pal card holders golf transit

1:47:42retirees and welcome to golf card holders for transfers we are recommending that the transfer

1:47:50time be maintained at 16 minutes and that the transfer time should always be equal to half of

1:47:55the longest route cycle time plus 15 minutes wealth transit currently rents out bus bays to

1:48:03other agencies at well central station currently the agencies are not paying the same rate and the

1:48:08rates have not been increased in several years the cost of renting a bus bay at well central

1:48:13station will increase to $770 per month per bus bay the monthly bus bay rental will be reviewed

1:48:21annually to align with covering the cost of the yearly terminal budget this change will generate

1:48:26approximately $3,600 in additional revenue in 2024 wealth transit currently offers bus charters

1:48:35the current rate is $150 per hour plus the cost of fuel maintenance and we are proposing to increase

1:48:42the rate to $155 in 2024 the rate will be reviewed and updated annually to match the cost increases

1:48:51as outlined in the revenue budget policy this change will generate approximately $2,500 in

1:48:57additional revenue in 2024 in regards to our financial performance indicators the 2019 transit

1:49:05business service review recommended setting a funding a fair pricing policy based on a target net

1:49:11revenue to cost ratio range between 40 and 45 percent we are recommending a more holistic set of

1:49:18financial performance indicators including the rc ratio that also considers service levels

1:49:24and aligns with the revenue budgeting policy should be adopted an annual financial performance

1:49:29review using the indicators will be conducted and measured against wealth transit's municipal

1:49:35comparators we're also recommending six enhancements and or new fair programs for the kids ride free

1:49:44program we are recommending that it be made permanent at an annual budget impact of $155,100

1:49:51this amount includes the revenue loss and a 0.4 clerical staff to support the program

1:49:58wealth transit currently offers a corporate pass program transit staff will develop a new

1:50:04corporate pass program the existing program will be phased out and a new program will be launched

1:50:09in 2024 the current program provides the University of Guelph and cooperators employees

1:50:15with a 15 discount the new program will be a partnership in which transit will provide a

1:50:2110 discount and the employer will provide a 10 discount thus employees receiving a deeper

1:50:27discount it is projected that this new program will bring in an additional $18,000 annually

1:50:36we are also proposing to introduce a travel training program transit staff will develop a

1:50:41diverse travel training program to meet the needs of various groups in the community

1:50:45which would be launched in 2024 the program will provide free rides to new customers taking part of

1:50:51the program up to the value of a monthly pass the program will will be developed at no financial

1:50:57impact and will be offered by existing staff the city of Guelph currently offers an employee pass

1:51:04program city hall staff are eligible for a transit pass and leave of parking at 100 discount all other

1:51:12employees a satellite locations are eligible for a 50 discount the discounts are taxable benefits

1:51:18and are managed by hr transit staff will work with parking in hr to enhance the cuss to enhance

1:51:25the user experience and expand the program so that all city employees are eligible including

1:51:29casual part-time co-op students summer students and contract employees we're also recommending

1:51:37changes to our taxi script program Guelph transit offers a taxi script program which provides

1:51:43discounting coupons for customers using using for redtop taxi accessible vehicles to be eligible

1:51:50for the taxi script program a passenger must have a permanent mobility services registration number

1:51:55and be registered as requiring the use of a wheelchair or scooter the program allows passengers

1:52:01to reserve a trip directly with a taxi company currently a $40 taxi script coupon but can be

1:52:07purchased for $20 a maximum of two coupons can be purchased each month we are proposing to increase

1:52:14the number of booklets to eligible customers from two to three the biggest change in our fair

1:52:21strategy relates to our traditional fixed monthly pass technology has evolved to allow us to modernize

1:52:28the traditional fixed monthly pass in transition to a page you go model known as fair capping

1:52:35customers will pay for single rides until they reach the cost of a monthly pass

1:52:39which is equivalent to 34 rides then they will ride free for the rest of the month

1:52:46we'll now dive dive deeper into fair capping the benefit of fair capping is that riders do

1:52:52not need to pay the upfront costs of a monthly pass and they can pay as they go but still get the cost

1:52:57savings of the pass by traveling fair free once they meet the fair cap threshold key theme and many

1:53:03city plans is affordable transit fair capping will make transit more affordable to many users

1:53:09because they don't have to make a decision on whether to pay upfront for a monthly pass

1:53:14that they may not get their money's worth of fair capping will simplify the fair structure

1:53:19and take the decision making out of the system meaning customers will only pay for what they use

1:53:25there is a significant difference between the cost savings and monthly passes

1:53:28and the barrier posed by their high upfront costs fair capping ensures the best value fair

1:53:34products are available to all riders not just those who can afford to pay upfront

1:53:40fair equity is one of the most frequent arguments in favor of fair capping because

1:53:45customers are only paying for services they are receiving fair capping simplifies the fair structure

1:53:52and enhances the customer experience as there's only one product to load

1:53:56it's important to note that currently 35 percent of customers who purchase a monthly pass

1:54:01do not ride enough to warrant the monthly pass thus are spending more money than they need to

1:54:08large transit agencies like Metrolinx are leading the industry in fair capping

1:54:13wealth transit wants to be a leader in the industry by transitioning to fair capping

1:54:17as we understand and support the affordability it brings to our customers

1:54:22in addition to supporting equity community engagement results showed fair capping as the

1:54:26preferred option among respondents we're also recommending introducing two new payment options

1:54:35for customers we are we are recommending three self-service terminals that will be purchased

1:54:41for fair card reloading accepting debit and credit these terminals will be located at service

1:54:46wealth west end recreation center in victoria road recreation center in the future we will

1:54:52look to expand the locations throughout the city these initial three would be operational by the

1:54:57end of 2024 we're also recommending introducing debit and credit fair payment on the buses which

1:55:05would be at the same price as cash fares by expanding payment options this makes transit

1:55:10more accessible to customers particularly infrequent riders and visitors to the city who

1:55:15do not have an on-way fare card we are planning to implement debit and credit fare payments

1:55:21in 2025 we are recommending changes to the fare structure and pricing

1:55:31gulf has an increased fares since 2016 and had the adult monthly pass rate been increased by 2.25

1:55:38percent annually since then the current rates would be at approximately the same rates as proposed

1:55:45wealth transit has made several service enhancements since the last fair increase

1:55:49such as expanding route 99 mainline sunday service hours increasing midday frequency on

1:55:55several routes and reinstating conventional service to the handland creek business park

1:56:00regular increases and fares will allow gulf transit to continue to make service enhancements

1:56:05and provide additional support for upcoming capital projects such as new shelters at gulf

1:56:10central station as well as digital signs at the university of gulf stono mall and gulf central

1:56:16station the new pricing structure aligns gulf transit rates with her municipal comparators

1:56:22and the regular scheduled increases will help account for goring maintenance

1:56:25and inflationary costs we are recommending changes to our fare structure so we are not

1:56:33recommending changes to the fare structure we are recommending that the flat fee age-based

1:56:37fare structure be maintained and that the term concession fares be adopted to refer to age-based

1:56:43discounts all users eligible for concession fares will receive the same discount these users

1:56:49include kids that is if the kids right free program is not continued youth post-secondary

1:56:55students excluding those students from the university of gulf and seniors worry we are also

1:57:02proposing a fair increase effective september 2023 the cash fare will be increased from $3 to 3.25

1:57:10and the debit and credit card payments on the buses would be at the same rate as cash

1:57:15the adult single ride fare would be maintained at 2 8 to 80 the concession single ride fare

1:57:21would also be maintained at 225 and would be expanded to include post-secondary students

1:57:26the adult monthly pass will be increased from $80 to $95 20 if fare capping is adopted the cap

1:57:34will be set at 30 for 34 rides where the rider will pay a maximum of 95 20 per month and then

1:57:40ride free for the remainder of the month the concession monthly pass will be increased from

1:57:45$68 to 76 50 if fare capping is adopted the cap will be set at 34 rides where the rider will

1:57:53pay a maximum of 76 50 per month and then ride free for the remainder of the month the day pass

1:58:00will increase from $8 to $8.40 and the weekend pass would be eliminated so how do these price

1:58:07increases and the introduction of fare capping impact the customer 71% of customers currently

1:58:13using rides and e-cash will see no change or will have a savings each month 11% who previously used

1:58:21a monthly pass would see a savings and only 18% would see an increase the adult monthly pass

1:58:28customers who do not use transit enough to reach the fare cap of 34 rides would pay on average

1:58:35only $65 a month compared to the proposed rate of 95 20 it is important to note that regardless of

1:58:44whether fare capping is adopted or the traditional monthly passes are maintained the prices will be

1:58:49increasing for adults to 95 20 to 95 20 per month and 76 50 per month for concession fares the amount

1:58:57of additional revenue the fare capping loyalty program will generate is approximately $10,000

1:59:02in 2024 versus maintaining in the traditional monthly pass program which would generate

1:59:07approximately $329,000 in revenue the table here summarizes their overall financial impact of the

1:59:16fare strategy the top portion of the table shows the annual revenue impact and the expenses are

1:59:21laid out below the expenses for the kids ride free or for the clerical support and the operating

1:59:27impacts from capital are for the ongoing operating impacts to support the debit and credit payment

1:59:32option on buses and terminals for fare loading although there is an overall negative budget

1:59:38impact in 2024 this is solely due to the recommendation to make the kids ride free program permanent

1:59:44all other years there is a positive revenue impact transit has an existing budget to fund

1:59:50the capital upgrades of fare capping self-service terminals and debit and credit payments on the

1:59:55buses totaling $329,000 the fare strategy supports the city's plans strategies and policies as well as

2:00:04the customer's needs to receive affordable and accessible transit service the fare strategy will

2:00:09help build our ridership to meet mode share targets settled in the transportation master plan and the

2:00:14dc study this document is not set in stone as transit will continue to explore ridership programs

2:00:20further enhance the customer experience stay relevant technologies available

2:00:26and continuously engage with our customers to recap the fare strategy will make our fare system

2:00:31more attractive affordable and accessible for everyone and meet our strategic plan expectations

2:00:40i'll now pass the floor back over to the chair thank you excellent presentation um

2:00:49so before we go to questions and comments from counselors i am going to um we have one delegation

2:00:56you have a some correspondence in your agenda as well so i'm going to call upon susan carrey the

2:01:03chair of the transit advisory committee to come forward greetings everyone council i'm

2:01:26i've never been here where i'm the only delegate that's a little off-putting um

2:01:32um i've been chair of the transit advisory committee for several years now and they are a

2:01:38really great engaged group of people who are constantly challenging and supporting the

2:01:46wealth transit staff who are terrific at keeping us walking beside them and informed and up to date

2:01:55because of the dateline of the fare strategy um we could not discuss it at a meeting they

2:02:03did wealth transit did hold a zoom session last minute to inform so that the committee

2:02:09could come together online and be up to updated so i cannot basically talk representing of any

2:02:17kind of group discussion but i am quite confident that their attitudes are reflected in what i

2:02:24say so i'm not going to go over all the details and the statistics and the numbers but one thing

2:02:31i do want to say is there's so much potential in a lot of these suggestions one way to increase

2:02:42ridership is to create a culture of transit use starting with children so wealth transit

2:02:50freerides for children permit adults an affordable option for group trips and most importantly it

2:02:56normalizes taking the bus for those kids and it's significant step in the right direction

2:03:04a lot of cities are already doing this berry halifax calgary and role modeling transit use

2:03:12to children by adults that they are already known respect in the future wealth transit might look

2:03:20at things like kingston's famous example of allowing secondary school students to ride free

2:03:25with their student cards um that increased trips by high school students from 28 000 to 600 000 in

2:03:33a year right a huge investment in building a wave of adults for whom taking transit is seen as a

2:03:40familiar option so key to this is that the students have to take an orientation session and this is

2:03:47the point they're learning about being good transit users the city's consciously teaching them that

2:03:58and here in wealth the partnership between the university and wealth transit similarly encourages

2:04:0333 000 students here to be transit users and while many will leave a great many will fall

2:04:09prey to the lure of wealth and stay on here and the u g pass makes it easy to choose transit

2:04:17we don't often make it easy enough um programs like kids rides free make it easy for families to

2:04:25choose the choice or choose to take transit um while teaching the kids that transit is an option a

2:04:34reasonable option for all great transit services frequent dependable affordable

2:04:41rely on a constant supply of riders they're mutually dependent so we need not only to build

2:04:48great transit we need to build a culture here in wealth of using transit um percentages of young

2:04:58people who drive are dropping significantly we're talking about one in five now are bothering to

2:05:04get licenses how are they going to get around the demand for effective transit is only going to

2:05:15increase in coming years and this holds great potential and promise for wealth transit

2:05:22and i think that the fair strategy proposed today such as kids ride free moves us further

2:05:28in the direction to meet that promise thank you thank you miss carry are there any questions of

2:05:36the delegate you can come back and stay this i think there's a question comes through our work

2:05:40make it easy thank you chair denner through you to miss carry i just had a question about the um

2:05:48the transfer time so i'm reading steven petricks letter that we received in our council package

2:05:53and it's from tag right um and i know that a lot of other municipalities they have a different

2:06:01transfer window and i i know that we only see when people have had a bad transit

2:06:06experience for the most part but what i see on social media sometimes is you know there was

2:06:10a bus that was delayed i missed and my transfer expired etc what are you hearing from transit

2:06:16users in terms of the transfer time period and can you just tell me a little bit why

2:06:24tax recommendation is actually um a longer transfer period so i'm not the best person to

2:06:32answer this one but i will say that because i too heard this comment i did ask wealth transit

2:06:40and was told that official um comments or complaints about transfer time are very rare

2:06:52i don't know if i should i'll ask staff leader thank you we can ask that question of staff yeah

2:06:58great thanks very much okay thank you uh we have another question from councillor chute

2:07:05thank you chair over and uh thank you staff chair denner i apologize

2:07:12spending too much time with my council ward mate as you can see but uh

2:07:17at first of all thank you so much for uh speaking season uh we really appreciate your time and

2:07:22effort and thank you to staff as well for uh putting together this plan in place that uh

2:07:27hopefully uh can you ratified in uh end of the month um this might seem like a novelty and i know

2:07:34we kind of discussed the sephora during a couple months back but uh i guess just this season just

2:07:40to pick your brain do you think uh it would be worthwhile for the city or even transit staff

2:07:46internally to consider um creating a new name for uh our transit pass right now it's called on your way

2:07:56it's great i love it but i think there are ways in which we can kind of make it more fun um to

2:08:03really create that culture uh around riding transit uh i just want to give you two examples in

2:08:09hong kong uh 35 years ago the city put out a competition uh to kind of coin the transit card

2:08:18called the octopus card and it's kind of household staple in hong kong and everyone knows

2:08:24you know to get onto the mtr you gotta have the octopus card um in seattle they have the orca card

2:08:30which actually is an acronym that stands for one regional card for all um it's just it's just very

2:08:38playful and i think there is an opportunity here to really make you know the card itself like a

2:08:44household item that would really help people not uh not have to second guess that taking their car

2:08:52because you know we're really encouraging the city to really boost up its uh reliability

2:08:57reliability on transit so i was wondering if you would just kind of support a similar idea

2:09:03some kind of competition maybe that the city in the future could consider um what do you think

2:09:12there's absolutely something about fun branding that could work and i have been to cities where you

2:09:17have you get your little card and it has some kind of catchy name and it becomes a part of the local

2:09:24lexicon i have no idea if that would work here it's a fun idea i guess the staff is this something

2:09:32you guys can bring back i think we'll get to that in a minute sorry jumping the gun here but

2:09:38thank you so much for your answer and then we have one more question from councillor oak

2:09:46actually i apologize this one's for staff i apologize thank you susan are there any more

2:09:52questions of the delegate oh councillor Caron has one too thank you through your chair downer

2:10:00i loved your line about the interdependency of frequency reliability and ridership

2:10:10that's a comment not a question my question is i just want to make sure i heard correctly the

2:10:14transit advisory committee which is council's advisory appointed advisory committee did not

2:10:20have an opportunity to review the transit fair strategy prior to coming to council or

2:10:25you provided input but you hadn't seen the final document i just want to understand the input

2:10:34that the transit advisory committee had in this process microphone because of the specifics of

2:10:49the timeline the actual dates the the details with regarding percentages and numbers and actual

2:10:58you know increases the numbers could not be released because they weren't public information yet

2:11:06so we knew about the concept of changes upcoming and then what last week this week i have no idea

2:11:18very very recently we had a zoom session where all that was released but it wasn't the same as

2:11:24having a big sit-down meeting need to unmute yourself councillor Caron sorry thank you so

2:11:34will you be reviewing it on an agenda of a future meeting i just want to ensure that the

2:11:40recommendations before us today are are supported by the transit advisory committee who did were any

2:11:46concerns raised during the discussion of the concepts outside of the actual um numerical

2:11:54calculations but the concepts of things like capping any concerns raised about that during the

2:11:59the advisory committee discussion no there were no um significant concerns there was uh

2:12:09support and a lot of fair capping is was basically a great idea that people were in favor of

2:12:24okay that's great and and thank you susan for um for your role on the transit advisory committee

2:12:30i know it's a volunteer appointment and we as a council um myself really appreciate the time that

2:12:36you give to uh advising us on these issues so thank you okay are there any other questions

2:12:44down okay councillor class then thank you chair downer um hi hi how are you um i have one question

2:12:54just with regard to um the difference between the transit advisory committee and the transit

2:13:00action alliance of guelph um just because i think we were speaking earlier they're they're two separate

2:13:04things that's correct one is appointed by the city and the other was yeah tag is appointed by the city

2:13:11and a formal advisory committee and tag is a citizens group that has no legal ties to the city

2:13:21and do you often collaborate with them with regard to things with with strategy and transit

2:13:27is that something that we have twitter debate sometimes no no we don't formally collaborate

2:13:37okay thank you thank you yes so just yeah that clarification is is helpful but

2:13:48that tag is a citizens group but they do they do advocacy and and so they get they advocate

2:13:53here often as they have for the letter today and then we have the input from our own advisory

2:13:59committee okay so now um i it would certainly be willing to put the motion on the floor uh

2:14:05councillor Allt seconded by mayor Guthrie um and then we'll get to questions first and before we get

2:14:13to comments uh mayor Guthrie do you have a question and then councillor Allt yeah thank you

2:14:18through you through you madam chair um and i i want to apologize for not sending this in advance

2:14:22i um it just came to me now so hopefully it's an easy one if you got to get back to me that's fine

2:14:28was there ever any consideration about a percentage of the fair or a an option for a little bit more

2:14:39of a fair where it's dedicated to capital upgrades such as shelters bus shelters so was there a

2:14:49willing like was it ever discussed for a willingness of hey for five cents more could that and i have no

2:14:58idea how much that would bring in by the way i'm just making it up here as i go but five cents i don't

2:15:03know 10 cents more but everyone had that that total amount would go directly to benches better

2:15:13shelters better something that increases the benefit of the user wi-fi on the buses i'm just

2:15:20you know just making this up as i go but something for a better user experience where there's a

2:15:25willingness to pay that little bit more but you know it's dedicated to capital upgrades

2:15:32uh so through chair downer to the mayor um so no not specifically in this instance we do uh use

2:15:37that model elsewhere in the city by council direction which is that we have a capital

2:15:41improvement fund that's charged on tickets at riverrun and at sleam and center um and so that's

2:15:45a very specific program that was set up um and and disclosed publicly that a small surcharge goes on

2:15:52every ticket and that goes into those upgrades um good example at riverrun was the purchase of grand

2:15:56piano so that's a very very specific that wasn't uh within the sort of scope of what the the transit

2:16:02team was doing because we do look at operating revenue for operating and capital revenue done

2:16:07distinctly so that wasn't within the scope of this fair strategy certainly if it's something that

2:16:11council wished us to pursue in the future um we could take that away thank you and just does a

2:16:17follow-up madam chair in the future um what do you mean by that i guess you want it to be aligned

2:16:23i guess with when the natural sequence of the next fair strategy uh would happen and and based

2:16:30on the report just so the public knows when would that take place uh through the chair i'm i would

2:16:37probably want to get back to you on that and consult with our colleagues in finance just

2:16:41relate to what the implications of that would be of adding a capital surcharge um on to transit and

2:16:46so i don't know if miss baker uh has any thoughts on that i think she's back there um but i would

2:16:54say can we get back to you with that on what the time then would be i certainly would not recommend

2:16:58we do it as part of this fair strategy approval but that we would come back perhaps through the

2:17:02multi-year budget process on that yeah and i will through you madam chair i totally agree with that

2:17:06wasn't wanting to add anything to to this conversation but um i i think it would be just an interesting

2:17:13piece of engagement with people to say you know what i am willing to pay a little bit more if i get

2:17:19added benefits um so maybe in the future that could be something that council could look to work

2:17:23with you on how something like that engagement process would work out um you know i could also

2:17:28say that i know other communities like do little little little tiny surcharges like at rec centers

2:17:34as an example like you know you go for a swim and it's five bucks or whatever well it becomes five

2:17:40dollars and 25 cents and the 25 cents goes to capital upgrades within the rec centers and things

2:17:45like that so um it's not uncommon for that so maybe next time uh around when we do the fair

2:17:52strategy we can look at an engagement process to ask um ask the riders if they'd be willing to to

2:17:57look into that uh through the chair i might also suggest that you if you want to give this direction

2:18:02that it actually be taken away for staff to look at in a broader more holistic way as um you know

2:18:08you just recently looked at our revenue policy um and so for our finance team if there is the

2:18:12desire to look at it so that it's not simply something we're looking at for transit but

2:18:16as you say recreation centers and other municipalities that is sometimes something

2:18:19that's considered so it might be something if you're looking to give direction on that you

2:18:23want us to look at it more broadly than simply transit say we do only have those two existing

2:18:28circumstances i know it was previously discussed during my time here in regards to recreation and

2:18:33the decision was made not to pursue it um but i think definitely in conversation with our finance

2:18:38team we could take that away and look at it if that's the direction from council but i would

2:18:43very much encourage you to have it be more broad than simply transit so that we can look at it

2:18:47across the board yeah no i like that i appreciate that uh that advice maybe i'll just work with you

2:18:52and staff and talk to my colleagues between now and the end of the month and if something like

2:18:56that seems reasonable and high level enough for the next time or whatever an engagement process i

2:19:01maybe look to bring something at the end of the month but i won't pursue it right now but

2:19:04i do appreciate the the info thank you madam chair i have a one added motion later on but

2:19:10but i'll let the other questions go first thank you thank you um councillor oz thank you very much

2:19:18chair downer i'm actually very excited about what we're doing with transit and it's great to see

2:19:24that we are evolving and adapting as as needed i've seen that right across north america as well

2:19:31just with a shout out to councillor Chew maybe we could name the card after guelph's favorite

2:19:37waterfowl uh go with the canada geese or something i don't know whether that would work but um uh

2:19:44the real question that i have is uh it's one that i believe um uh mr cherris knows already

2:19:51why don't we use presto i have that asked to me a ton and i understand the answer makes sense but

2:19:57i think the public needs to know it as well through the chair to councillor Allt

2:20:04unfortunately presto was not one of the companies that bid on our our first um

2:20:11when we put it out for bid and they did not bid on they did not express an interest in that respect

2:20:16which is the reason that we went with the vendor that we that we chose which is payment

2:20:21in motion to do our on your way card okay thanks that's good and simple i understood as well that

2:20:26there was a significant charge cost with presto as well if we were to integrate is that correct

2:20:32through the chair to the councillor my understanding is that there is a considerable

2:20:37additional charges uh for the presto card if you go that way in terms of uh initiation of the card

2:20:44and ongoing uh warranty and maintenance thank you very much thank you are there any other questions

2:20:51of staff before we go to comments councillor rook uh thank you chair downer um so so i'd just like

2:20:59to ask staff uh through you chair downer staff i i sent a question by email just to ask about a

2:21:05longer transfer time and whether that had been considered and the the response came back like

2:21:10it would only be about 33 000 like the the expectation of what that would cost is fairly low

2:21:17so i'm wondering um why would we if the goal is ridership right and look i'm not as fast as i used

2:21:27to be i was never very fast if i take the five and i end up at one end of the platform i may not

2:21:32make the 99 at the other end of the platform right and then i'm going to go get a coffee at the

2:21:36university and come back or something like that so why wouldn't we add 15 minutes to the transfer

2:21:45time just as a customer service thing or have we talked to uh jeek tag and our transit advisory group

2:21:53thank you council classon um around what is the sweet spot for the transfers if the benefit

2:22:00really is and for anybody who have a mobility problem who maybe isn't making those transfers as

2:22:04effectively um can we consider that given given the amount of money we're talking about for you

2:22:15chair to council or work um we don't get a significant number of complaints from customers

2:22:19about the transfer window and our schedules do have built in layover time at the terminals and

2:22:23stoner mall for customers to be able to make it from one end to the other so that's one of our main

2:22:27reasons for keeping it at that and we already do have a buffer of 15 minutes in there as most of

2:22:32our routes are 30 minutes total so 15 minutes out 15 minutes back so our transfer time is based on

2:22:38our longest route already with a 15 minute buffer already in there okay so through you chair downer

2:22:44to staff is that something we can look at in a year and see like is that an easily adjustable

2:22:49thing absolutely it is we have um electronic fair media system that we can easily pull all the

2:22:54data and we do annual reviews as part of our golf transit future ready action plan so we can

2:22:59include it with that great thank you through you chair downer i've got two more um i love the idea

2:23:05of the the training for people who aren't used to taking the bus and to um the delegate miss carry's

2:23:11point my daughter and her friends at some point a couple years ago went to the mall together

2:23:16and my daughter knew there were routes but her friends actually did not know there was a route

2:23:20that you had to then transfer and take a bus in a different direction because they're just used to

2:23:24getting in a car and being taken to their destination so are we thinking of expanding that

2:23:29potentially to anybody who's not a regular transit user i've got to say the new fare box if i have a

2:23:35you know the app on my phone now i don't know where to tap it so i'm i'm that person who takes

2:23:40a long time when i board the bus because i'm not sure how that all works um yeah maybe maybe i'm

2:23:47causing the longer transfer time um but there might be people who haven't ridden the bus in a long

2:23:52time and who think wow those elect buses are cool and i'd like to give that a shot like can we

2:23:57have a day of the year where we invite people on to buses and have free transit to invite people

2:24:02to give it a try for you chair downer to counselor work will absolutely expand the travel training

2:24:08to anyone who wants to be able to take it generally the people in quarrying are brand new users but

2:24:12if there's people who haven't used it for quite some time they would be welcome to take the training

2:24:16as well okay great and last question um chair downer i noticed that in the report a lot of the

2:24:23comparator municipalities have um again as an incitement not necessarily as a um you know an

2:24:32income level um strategy but there's an inducement for seniors so there'll be you know seniors ride

2:24:39free thursdays or there'll be seniors ride free in off peak hours right so i understand we can't do it

2:24:48all at one time and we've had big leaps with the kids ride free and with the affordable bus pass

2:24:53which is a significant cost will we look at something for seniors in the future again more as

2:25:00an inducement and not necessarily all the time because the affordability piece is already covered

2:25:04that way but just as a little extra perk to get people on the bus through through you chair downer

2:25:11to counselor work as part of the fair strategy we're going to continuously look at ridership

2:25:15programs to help improve them and enhance more customers receiving the services so we will be

2:25:20looking at that continuously terrific thanks very much thank you uh a question comes from

2:25:30yes uh through you chair downer to staff um i was reviewing the correspondence from

2:25:36steven patrick in our package and he had a recommendation with regard to the self-service

2:25:43terminal being located at golf central station rather than city hall um could you speak to that

2:25:49a little bit and also could you could we also consider putting the self-serve terminal at at

2:25:56our central station uh thank you for you chair downer to counselor class and um the cost for a

2:26:04big self-serve terminal at golf central station is significant a couple hundred thousand dollars

2:26:09versus the individual ones inside are significantly less at around 30 000 we do have a plan for a new

2:26:15terminal building down at golf central station in a couple years and inside that building there

2:26:19will be self-serve kiosk as long as well as staff there to reload fares also during community

2:26:25engagement 60 of respondents who load at a city facility said they would use a self-serve kiosk

2:26:31which would then free up time for the customer service staff to provide other services to the

2:26:36public which is why we went with the recommendation of the self-serve kiosk inside at this time

2:26:42thank you um i have a slight question just based on your response just so the clarification

2:26:47there is that we asked people who are purchasing um their their tickets or passes at service

2:26:53stations if they would use a self-serve we didn't ask if there was a self-serve station at

2:27:00at central station we would use it just a wording question for you chair downer to

2:27:06counselor class no we didn't make that specific distinction between them okay thank you okay

2:27:13anyone else have questions uh counselor billings and then counselor kaitan

2:27:18to you madam chair in the report it has um the additional staff resources for the new fair

2:27:25strategy the clerical position is that part-time through you chair downer to counselor um through

2:27:37the with the pilot of the kids ride free in the affordables we used a full-time sorry a contract

2:27:43full-time position to help support the two programs so point six was dedicated for the

2:27:47affordable to help support and then point four for the kids ride free so when you put them together

2:27:52it makes a full-time fte but approximately point four of the time the person will be supporting

2:27:57the kids ride free program okay and then there's two more positions um it's the fair media coordinator

2:28:06and the transit technologist um it looks like those two positions are required as well because

2:28:13of the new fair strategy so is that okay so am i reading that correctly for you chair downer to

2:28:23counselor these those positions would be in the budget whether or not we did a fair strategy or

2:28:29not these positions would help support some of the enhancements of the fair strategy but we

2:28:32still already had them in our four-year plan for additional positions but they would be doing some

2:28:39work given the new fair strategy correct for you chair downer to counselors they would be doing

2:28:46a portion of it but even if fair strategy was not approved who would still require those positions

2:28:51as there's other duties that they would be working on they're not a direct recommendation from the

2:28:56strategy okay thanks and the reason why i was asking was because the the two tables don't include

2:29:03those um dollar amounts for the expense that's why i was asking thanks oh i got one more sorry

2:29:10through you madam chair um when the mayor spoke about additional revenue for capital

2:29:16i was just wondering especially when we do greenfield development the the bus shelters

2:29:22are they de-seeable or have we been collecting uh dcs in the past for the for the new bus

2:29:29shelters that come on stream um so uh through uh chair downer to counselor billings um yes so

2:29:44uh the growth related investment um and capital investment in transit is in the dc and uh and

2:29:52and we have been collecting and uh two years ago three years ago the legislation changed so that we

2:29:57could do a more prospective um calculation on transit and so uh so that was actually in in our

2:30:05favor and so we have been collecting development charges and that is part of the funding model

2:30:10for the transit capital so we actually put in for bus shelters not just a pad but the nicer

2:30:19bus shelters we collect money for that um yes i i can uh i'll confirm before the end of the month

2:30:29but it's my understanding that yes the the shelters including the entire infrastructure of the

2:30:37shelter is part of the projects that are in the dc study okay thanks sir uh counselor take on and then

2:30:48koran thank you very much chair downer um so i was just wondering in our video presentation there

2:30:55was no mention of the deeply affordable bus pass or the community nonprofit ticket bundle and the

2:31:02corporate bus pass and i was just wondering um where that was and if those if it's just because

2:31:08they're not being reviewed for cost so through chair downer to council katin um the affordable

2:31:16bus pass is not included because it's not a transit fair it's a subsidy program that is handled

2:31:20independently uh from transit through our community investment team and we do that very very intentionally

2:31:25transit sets their fares and that's what's before you now and then very independently from that

2:31:30u.s council uh made a decision about a subsidy program um and so while they obviously are strongly

2:31:36connected because it's all related to transit um regardless of what changes with the transit

2:31:41fairs the affordable bus pass program is an approved program that is in place and and and

2:31:47stays in place regardless of any decisions on this transit fair strategy thank you and through

2:31:53the chair to staff um so this is something that i heard in a session so please correct me if i'm wrong

2:32:00but i thought we'd had a corporate bus pass where um different employers could pay up to a certain

2:32:06percentage and they got a discount kind of on a volume bus pass purchase um is that not something

2:32:12that is still within the the fair strategy for you through you chair downer to counselor

2:32:20yes in the fair strategy we are proposing a change to our current corporate pass program

2:32:24currently um employers um receive a 15 percent discount we're proposing a change to the program

2:32:30in which it's more of a partnership so the Gulf transit will offer 10 percent discount and the

2:32:35employer will also offer 10 percent discount so employees would then get a deeper discount

2:32:39so that is part of one of the recommendations for the fair strategy thank you and through the

2:32:45chair just one final question um i know that sometimes for smaller businesses that might be a

2:32:50prohibitive um option but is there a way to talk to larger groups like the downtown business

2:32:58association who represent a bunch of groups to see if they can uh help their employees

2:33:04if they've a smaller company to do a similar

2:33:09fair discount program for you chair downer to counselor yes that'll be part of the program

2:33:16we did consider the smaller businesses and actually the downtown business association

2:33:20was the one that we were thinking of where there's a lot of smaller businesses that if they wanted

2:33:23to go in together as a downtown business association to qualify for the corporate pass

2:33:28program we would be open to that great thank you so much okay thank you account sir coran

2:33:37yes thank you um not so much about fairs but i guess it affects fairs um through through capital

2:33:42i picked up on the presentation uh question related to um the um the kiosk and you mentioned

2:33:51that there are plans in the future to build an outdoor kiosk um i don't recall seeing that specific

2:33:58project in the capital budget and we have a lot of questions as counselor about Gulf Central Station

2:34:04and the fact that it's closed now i know that that's in a different ownership but i just wanted to

2:34:10um follow up on on that idea of building a standalone structure when we have a facility

2:34:18where we could potentially rent a kiosk and rent indoor space um and whether there's a business case

2:34:27that will lead into that decision and when that decision might come to council

2:34:32uh so through the chair i'm going to start and then pass it over to miss holmes because

2:34:36there's a couple of things to your question so first yes we do have within our capital budget

2:34:42and as council may recall uh plan to build uh that standalone facility using a significant portion

2:34:49of isaac funding and that is still in uh in the works because there is a need for that dedicated

2:34:55Gulf transit facility uh at the bad directionally east end of the platform um in terms of providing

2:35:03that frontline customer service as well as supports for our drivers um the the Gulf Central uh the

2:35:09Gulf Station as you referred to is owned by Metrolinx and i will pass it over to miss holmes who

2:35:14has a bit more information about that building thank you so through the through the chair to

2:35:18council coran um we have been in discussions with Metrolinx in terms of the availability of that

2:35:24existing station for our residents right now they do um have it closed um citing numerous

2:35:30conditions associated with making sure that they have enough staff available um we meet with Metrolinx

2:35:36on a regular basis because we understand there have been complaints about accessibility to that

2:35:40station um and so we'll continue to um advocate for the fact that um that station should be open

2:35:47for our residents to uh to wait in as they wait for the train to come yes thank you and as a follow-up

2:35:54i do recall that discussion about the need for the east end of the of the platform to have um

2:36:00access to washrooms and a kiosk i didn't see it in the 10-year capital plan is it in the 10-year

2:36:05capital plan uh through chair downer uh to council katin uh uh sorry coran um yes it is um we will

2:36:14find specifics for you uh and we can send that out but it is in the 10-year capital plan and it was

2:36:19part of the isip funding application that was submitted and ultimately that we were approved

2:36:24approved for funding through that program okay great and and i'm glad to hear that the west end

2:36:30of the uh facility will also is also still a negotiation because i think there's there's a

2:36:36lot of synergy there we've got a beautiful building that was once in city ownership um to see it locked

2:36:41up most of the time uh and unavailable either short-term use until we have an east end facility

2:36:47is something again speaks to ridership because um as staff have presented and a public have

2:36:53have have concurred uh and our advisory group has concurred um ridership depends on uh the

2:37:01experience frequency reliability safety uh all of those things are factors in ridership so glad

2:37:08to hear that all of those things are being taken into consideration including guelph central station

2:37:13and it's um it's public um the public experience of the use of guelph central station as a transfer

2:37:21points thanks i'm happy to support this um this program great are there any other questions

2:37:33seeing none great so we're gonna uh go to comments now um the um mayor Guthrie's motion is actually

2:37:42a separate motion that will come afterwards it's not an amendment so uh are there any comments on

2:37:47this okay councillor cross thank you um i just want to keep it short and sweet i just want to thank my

2:37:55my council colleagues and and staff um for bringing this forward i think one thing that's really important

2:38:01as we mitigate climate change is the importance of taking public transit it's something that you know

2:38:07i think susan carrey spoke to with encouraging young people to take transit it's so important as

2:38:13we move forward toward a car free downtown having less people parking the core and it's something

2:38:18that we could all uh stand to talk about a little more and and encourage everyone in in the community

2:38:24to take the bus a little bit more because that is one tool we have as individual residents uh it's

2:38:29taking the bus is to reduce our carbon footprint so i just want to say thank you and uh i i hope we

2:38:34can all encourage someone this week to take the bus thank you councillor all thank you very much um to

2:38:44carry on with the comments by uh council cross and i would actually urge that this be unanimous

2:38:50that i think the unanimity is very important the the points about climate are only one aspect of

2:38:55this i think we need to consider as well that this is a traffic safety issue as well the more people

2:39:00that we get out of out of cars the safer we are it's also a cost issue if we can reduce our

2:39:06infrastructure costs because our roads are not being worn down or we do not have to expand our

2:39:12roads for traffic volume we are doing a service to the bottom line at budget time so consequently i

2:39:18think we need to recognize that this is essentially a an appropriate transfer of funding to public

2:39:25transit from private transit and i think it deserves unanimity thank you any uh councillor work

2:39:33as comments thank you chair downer through you to staff um i was a new councillor when the transit

2:39:39service review recommendations came and i was a little unsure about the the recommendations and

2:39:45the robustness of the research but this report was extremely well researched and i've got a lot of

2:39:52confidence in the direction that you're taking and i just want to thank you for the depth of work

2:39:56and just how solid that report is thank you good comments ditto to all of it are there any other

2:40:03comments before i call the vote okay seeing none other uh is anyone opposed that's a unanimous vote

2:40:14thank you and again ditto to what others have said this is uh extensive body of work and well

2:40:20researched and um happy that it's passed unanimously today so i just want to go to uh mayor Guthrie he

2:40:27has a follow-up motion on this on the transit issue great thank you chair downer and through you

2:40:36so i just can maybe get the the clerks ready to to go there oh there it is there

2:40:43so as we can see it's that um i'd like to ask council for support to direct staff to consider

2:40:50maybe later in the fall uh when the multi-year budget comes back

2:40:55um some costing and recommended approach for uh transit passes uh for high school students and

2:41:02seniors um and to look at best practices of other communities that are doing this um i i uh first of

2:41:10all i'll just stop there i believe councillor Goller was willing to second my motion so i could

2:41:15continue thank you um you know i've been i maybe added the seniors issue a little bit later but

2:41:23on the student one for grade 12 and under for high school students um i i've been working on this

2:41:30along with now two sets of councils um since uh early of 2020 and in fact uh at the

2:41:40at the april 2020 committee of the whole meeting this item was going to be uh tabled

2:41:48and that was the first meeting that i had to cancel because of covid and um there was delegations

2:41:57ready to come from high school students um it was i already had a secondary lined up it was

2:42:03ready to go and then we all know what happened with our transit system because of the impacts of

2:42:08the pandemic so this is something that i have um a lot of passion about and i think and there's

2:42:16no coordination here at all but with our delegate today um talking about the increased

2:42:24availability to get people as early adopters onto our transit system especially from the

2:42:29youth perspective i i really want to try to encourage that um and so i i want to keep it

2:42:36high level enough for council for staff to go away and get a report back and and get their

2:42:42professional advice but i would just ask that um we at least at this point uh if we could pass the

2:42:49motion up to the will of council to to try to see uh about this direction at this time uh looking at

2:42:59either a more affordable or you know if it was a great day as i've been trying to say for a few

2:43:03years um a no-cost option for uh youth and and for looking at seniors as well um and i'll uh

2:43:13i'll leave it at that so thank you uh thank you madam chair we have the motion on the floor

2:43:20and second are there any questions before are there any comments from the any counselors

2:43:31okay i will just go right to the vote then is is there anyone opposed seeing none that passes

2:43:40unanimously thank you okay so i understand that there are no uh service chair announcements and