Fare hike ‘has a lot of consequences’

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This article was published 28/11/2017 (2881 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Groups of Indigenous people and newcomers who use Winnipeg Transit are protesting a proposed 25-cent fare hike outlined in the 2018 civic budget.

Such an increase will put a strain on peoples’ wallets, several local organizations said Monday at a news conference.

But for Nicolette Jones, it might mean a strain on her marriage.

When she moved to Winnipeg last year, the 27-year-old international student said she and her husband budgeted their entire year down to the penny.

“When the bus fare was raised by five cents — I mean it’s just five cents, right? But it did throw our budget out of whack,” Jones said Monday, adding the smaller increase still hurt.

“My husband, because it was $2.70 instead of $2.65 or $2.35 based on the student fare, he couldn’t go to as many places as before,” Jones said. “It may not seem like a lot, but it was a lot to us.”

The preliminary City of Winnipeg budget released last week would push the cost of a single bus ride up 25 cents — 20 cents higher than the customary nickel annual hike — bringing the new total to $2.95.

Transit also identified up to 23 routes that could see a reduction in bus services effective June. Mayor Brian Bowman told reporters last week the routes will be disclosed before council votes on the budget on Dec. 12.

The proposed fare increase will disproportionately affect low-income people whose monthly budgets are already stretched thin with rent and food costs, said Seid Oumer Ahmed of the Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations.

He suggested because many low-income earners work outside of 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday hours, their ability to work will be affected if transit schedules are cut. “It will also limit their mobility, and that has a lot of consequences.”

Yasmin Ali, board president for the Canadian Muslim Women’s Institute, said such fare increases only serve to tighten low-income budgets.

“They have to pay their rent or else they’ll be on the street,” Ali said. “And they have to pay for transit.”

She said the fare increases will likely come out of people’s already small food budgets.

The organizations are also concerned reduced schedules could also mean longer wait times for buses — something Jones already has experience with.

She recalled Monday waiting for a bus at Notre Dame Avenue and Erin Street in -20 C last winter. She was going to pay her rent at an office on Myrtle Street.

Jones said she waited 25 minutes in the cold, because the bus schedule wasn’t online. In that 25 minutes, it felt like her fingers and toes were about to freeze off.

By the time she got back home, she stood still for 10 minutes, waiting for the chill to leave her bones.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca