London, Ont., transit down $1.6M in fares but will continue free service throughout April

Ontario’s London Transit Commission (LTC) is losing out on millions of dollars since it stopped collecting fares amid COVID-19 safety measures, but the commission says it will continue with its new protocols throughout the month of April.

“These aren’t decisions we take lightly,” said Phil Squire, LTC chair and city councillor, “but right now I’m just hearing from so many people who view transit as a lifeline. It’s a lifeline to do the things that they need to do to have really a safe and meaningful life right now so we’re going to continue doing it.”

LTC announced on March 19 that a new policy would come into effect the following day that would see riders get on and off the bus through the rear doors, with an exception made for those with accessibility needs who would still be permitted to board and exit through the front. As a result of the new policy, the LTC said it would no longer be accepting fares.

The policy was first expected to run from March 20 to April 5, but has now been extended to run through the month of April as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact everyday life.

“The revenue loss is significant from fares, it’s about $1.6-million a month,” Squire told Global News.

“When we get back to looking at our budget — and the budget was just set a short time ago — there’s going to have to probably be some reexamination of some of the things we’ve been able to do. Hopefully, we’ll have some federal funding and things like that, that’ll help us out.”

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Ridership has dropped significantly, with daily boardings between March 16 and 31 averaging about 20 per cent of normal – from 102,000 daily weekday boardings normally to 23,000 in the last half of March. Specialized service for those with accessibility needs is averaging about 15 per cent of what would normally occur, down from about 1,100 weekday trips to 150.

“That’s good news from my point of view; that means people are respecting the fact that right now transit really is an essential service,” Squire said.

“If you need to go to a doctors appointment, if you need to go to work, if you need to get food, if you need to do those kinds of things we want people to use transit. But if you’re saying, ‘look, I don’t have anything to do today, I’d like to ride around on transit.’ We’d prefer you don’t do that.”

Squire added that the service would not be able to continue if it weren’t for the work of the transit employees, 85 per cent of whom are front-line workers.

“I’m really appreciative for what they’re doing too, they’re front-line workers like anyone else and I really am grateful for that and I know the rest of the commission is.”

More information on the LTC’s policies and protocols in relation to COVID-19 can be found on its website.