Financial woes caused by having to waive bus fares and increase sanitization efforts due to the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the London Transit Commission (LTC) to scrap its 2020 service upgrades.
The commission voted unanimously at a Wednesday meeting to place the planned enhancements to the city's public transit system on hold until at least 2021. The LTC had been set to implement 18,000 hours of additional conventional service and 6,000 more hours of specialized service by September.
"It's disappointing," said Kelly Paleczny, LTC general manager. "This would have been year six of continued growth in both of the services. We have finally addressed a number of outstanding asks from customers, we've revised the routing structure to better match ridership, and we were looking forward to continuing that momentum. It is tough to put things like that on hold, but things change."
London Transit has lost approximately $3.6 million since introducing its rear-boarding policy in mid-March to better protect its drivers and riders from the novel coronavirus. The safety measure, which limits contact, means riders enter and exit through the rear bus doors, eliminating the LTC's ability to collect fares. All fare collection equipment is located at the front entrance of city buses.
That budget shortfall will grow by another roughly $2.3 million next month, as the LTC also voted Wednesday to extend the practice of rear boarding until May 31.
"That puts us at basically a $6 million shortfall in budget through to the end of May," added Paleczny. "That is a significant amount of money."
She said in order to make up for the revenue gap, the LTC will continue to lobby for provincial and federal funding. Transit associations across the country have already been pleading with both levels of government to offer some sort of financial relief package to keep buses running during these tough times.
"There is a lot of concern out in the community that transit is going to stop. I would like to reassure our riders that we are doing absolutely everything in our power to keep that from happening," said Paleczny. "We understand that many Londoners rely on us to get to-and-from where they need to be and we are going to make every effort to continue to deliver."
The LTC has already had to scale back its services twice since the pandemic began as a significant number of drivers have been taking vacation days and unpaid leave due to fears over the virus.
While the practice of rear-boarding will continue until May 31, those with accessibility needs are still permitted to board and exit buses using the front door.
As an added precaution, the LTC is asking riders not to travel on public transit if they are experiencing any symptoms and to continue limiting their trips to those that are essential.
For the most current information on how the pandemic has impacted transit routes, click here.
