Fare-free transit doesn't give council a pass on LRT failings

It's the first day of December, and this year, that marks the beginning of a first-ever full month of free transit in Ottawa.

The change offers commuters a chance to see whether or not light rail, ParaTranspoandother parts of the transit network can be relied upon.

But it likely won't hidethatthe offer of free OC Transpo and ParaTranspo servicewas politicalfrom the get-go.

The free month was approved back in mid-October,smack in the middle of a 54-day totalLRTshutdown, when council had no idea when the trains would be running again so from the start,the opticsweren't great and had a certain whiff of distraction-ism about it.

• Ottawa city council approves free transit in December if LRT is back
• Ottawa's LRT returns to service today, after nearly 2 months off the rails

For supporters, including Mayor Jim Watson and transit commission chair Coun. Allan Hubley, providing free transit was a gesture of apology and a way to coax more people back onto transit.

Octoberridership was at just 41 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, although some may have avoided transit while the LRT was down.

But for the six councillors who voted against it, the move was a gimmick.

To paraphrase Coun. Jeff Leiper, council could not put a price on the stressthe struggling Confederation Line has caused riders in the past two years. And if you could put a price on it, it wouldn't be the price of a $122 monthly bus pass.

Coun. Catherine McKenney would rather have seen fares frozen for the entirety of 2022, whileCoun. Carol Anne Meehan wanted to see the $7.2 million free fares willcost go towardbuying more buses for times when the LRT will, in her view, invariably go down again.

WATCH | Rider group says reliability is the most important:

One month of free transit not enough to re-establish confidence in LRT, advocate says

3 years ago

Duration 0:41

Laura Shantz, who sits on the board of the Ottawa Transit Riders group, says only reliable, functional train service will restore public confidence in the LRT, not one free month of transit access.

The mayor accused them all of having "motion envy"and said they were voting against the free month of transit because it wasn't their idea.

Of course, Watson himself has voted against past suggestions of free fares when the idea was put forward by other councillors.

Trillium Line update, final budget vote

If the free month might be a balm to soothe the public's antagonism for the city's transit system, a meeting next week might reopenold wounds.

The finance and economic development committee will finally hear an update on the schedule for the Trillium Line extension. The city is supposed to take possession of the line inAugust 2022. Butback in January, SNC-Lavalin told the city it was running at least four months late, which only came to light in a CBC story.

It's taken 10 months for the city's rail office to provide an update on the schedule, which will come Tuesday.

Between what SNC-Lavalin already told the city almost a year ago, and COVID-19 relatedsupply-chain andlabour issues,Trillium Line Stage 2 is unlikely to be on schedule.

• SNC-Lavalin failed to meet technical bar for LRT bid twice

And that could become a political problem, especially for members of council runningin next fall's municipal election. With the public already frustratedover Line 1, politiciansmay find facing a delay on Line 2 hard to defendon the hustings.

Free fares may have an upside

There's nothing really wrong with offering riders free transit this month. EvenMcKenney, who voted against the measure,says it is a way for OC Transpo to lookat how free fares affect how people travel.

And there's no reason people shouldn't take advantage of it, if they can.

But council shouldn't expect it to repair a relationship with commuters damaged from two years of Confederation Line troubles, nor should they count on anyone forgetting city officials knew the LRT was unreliable before it took possession of it in 2019. A provincial inquiry starting next year will make sure of that.

Because ascouncil must surely know, in politics, there's no such thing as a free ride.