If all goes according to plan, Ottawa’s LRT will be back on the rails in mid-August and the transit system will gradually be heading for normalcy.
By that time, transit users will have endured four weeks of long commutes, crowded buses and frustration.
Here’s what is known so far — and what is not.
Q: Why doesn’t the city just give transit users free fares for a month?
A: There’s a range of possibilities, from free ridership for everyone for a given period of time to no compensation at all.
The question is what is fair, and whether there should be “blanket” compensation for everyone. Some transit users were late to work and were docked pay, for example. Others incurred extra daycare costs because they were late to pick up their children.
But it would be hard to create a mechanism that separates transit users according to how much inconvenience each one experienced.
“A lot of people won’t be affected by this,” said Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo, a member of the transit commission. He’s open to hearing ideas about how to compensate people, but he’s not in favour of blanket compensation.
River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington, also a member of the city’s transit commission, believes that if there is compensation, it will be global in nature. In the meantime, if people have evidence that they have been out-of-pocket because of the shutdown, OC Transpo will listen, he said.
A: It’s one option. The estimated cost of free fares in 2021 was $7.2 million, with the money coming from funds the city was withholding from RTG in the wake of the derailments.
But the financial context is much different now, said Glen Gower, the chair of the city’s transit commission. Tops on the list of constraints is the $39 million deficit in the transit budget this spring. With a financial hole that big, there’s not a lot of wiggle room.
“The concern is that we have built a budget with a $39 million deficit, and we’re talking about a fare reduction. That’s not free,” said River Ward Coun. Laine Johnson.
Q: Where will the money to cover the $39 million deficit come from?
A: That’s also unclear. The city was hoping for funding from the province or the federal government, but there was no money for Ottawa transit deficits in either the provincial or the federal budget this year.
“We have an ongoing request to other levels of government. They’re very aware of the deficit situation,” said Gower.
There are other concerns including hidden deferred costs, such as not buying new buses to replace ageing vehicles. How that has strained the budget will only become obvious when they become inconvenient and costly, said Kari Glynes Elliott, one of the founders of Ottawa Transit Riders.
Q: How much would the city lose if transit were free for a month?
A: Revenue from transit fares comes to about $7 to $8 million a month. When the LRT isn’t running, the city isn’t paying $4 to $5 million a month to the Rideau Transit Group (RTG), which has the contract for maintaining the LRT system.
Subtract the RTG payment from lost fare revenue and that suggests it would only cost around $3 million to give riders free fares for a month. But the equation is not as simple as that, said Gower. There are costs behind some of the measures taken to replace train service, including overtime, customer service workers and signage.
“It will give us the framework. We’re proceeding with an open mind and a lot of caution, given the strain we’re under financially.”
There is also the question of whether savings from this past month — if there are any — would be better spent on improvIng service on busy routes and investing in ParaTranspo.
“Perhaps the best compensation would be to double down on the commitment to ensure OC Transpo is a reliable service,” said Gower.
Q: Does compensation money have to come from the city transit budget?
A: Not necessarily. There are other options, but none of them are an easy source of money to fund compensation for riders. Budgets in all city departments are already stretched, said Gower. There’s also a general reserve fund, but it’s not well-advised to pull money from that fund because the money is held for emergencies such as tornado response.
Q: What about adding the cost to municipal tax bills?
A: There’s a reluctance to raise taxes. In July 2021, a consultant’s report concluded that free transit would cost the owner of a home valued at $415,000 an extra $482 a year in property taxes. Both former mayor Jim Watson and current Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, then a mayoral candidate, balked at the idea of free transit.
But others argue that reliable free transit should be seen as a public good, like libraries and emergency services.
Free Transit Ottawa is advocating for free fares for everyone, starting with those on social assistance.
Nick Grover, a member of the group’s executive, argues that public transit can be both free and good. “If more was spent on the system, it would attract more users.”
If taxes were increased by $400 to $500, free transit would replace $1,200 spent annually on a bus pass or $10,000 in car expenses, he said.
Anecdotally at least, more people are commuting by car because of glitches in public transit. Once people start driving, it’s hard to stop. And that has a cost to everyone as roadways become congested and no one can travel conveniently, said Johnson.
“It’s all connected. The alternative is a disaster,” she said.
Q: Will free or reduced fares win back the confidence of transit users?
“Most of our members have been blunt that they want transit that works, and they’re willing to pay for it,” said Elliott. “Free transit that doesn’t work doesn’t serve us.”
A financial incentive might help to take the sting out of it, but users may not even return to transit, even if it is free, said Brockington.
“We will never be regarded as a reliable transit service until we provide a consistent service,” said Brockington, who believes it will take at least a year, including winter.
People might appreciate the gesture, but it won’t increase trust, said Lo.
“The best advertising for transit is word-of-mouth.”
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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