The new Affordable Pass for Chatham-Kent Transit riders is available next week, just one of the many changes made to try and boost ridership.
"No matter how full or how empty our buses run, our contract is the same price," says Adam Sullo, director of engineering and transportation with the municipality.
He says the changes will look to get more people to use the bus and do it in a way that makes the service more efficient.
"We're trying to see if there's a way we can encourage people that maybe don't need to be on the bus on-peak, to encourage them to ride in the off-peak times," says Sullo.
On-peak times are from 7am - 10am and 1pm - 4pm while off-peak times are 6am - 7am, 10am -1pm and 4pm - 7:30pm.
Sullo says while many of the changes will see riders pay less, he expects CK Transit operations to break-even.
"The hope is we'll be able to increase revenue, but our number one goal is to increase ridership which will increase revenue," says Sullo.
The other changes will see the Multi-Ride Pass done away with and the Senior Annual Pass phased out, replaced with an Unlimited Monthly Pass and a Cash Pass which gives riders 20 % and 50% discounts for on-peak and off-peak trips respectively.
The Unlimited Monthly Pass will see adult users save $5 a month compared to the current Multi-Ride Pass while students and seniors will save $4 using the same comparison .
Fares are being standardized at $2 each — a 25-cent jump for students and seniors — while children 5 years old and under will ride free compared to the loonie it costs now.
The Affordable Pass is a one-year pilot program and is geared to income. Applications will be available at the Civic Centre as of June 27. Call 519-360-1998 for more information.
"We know there's a bit of confusion with the changes we're making," says Sullo. "I think there will be confusion no matter what we do, but our hope is that [users] will see the savings associated with it and it will be seen as a net positive."
The changes are set to take effect July 1.
