This document summarizes proposed changes to OC Transpo's fare system to coordinate with the new O-Train Confederation Line. Key points include: - Removing premium fares for express routes since distinctions will no longer exist. - Recalibrating fares to maintain $190M in annual revenue, including one monthly pass price for adults and students. - Phasing out paper passes and tickets by 2017 as they won't work with new fare gates. - Introducing a multi-day pass and integrating fares with intercity carriers like VIA Rail. - Adjusting fare increase timing to January 1st annually to align with the city budget year. - Establishing rules to annually

1. OC Transpo Fare System
Restructuring to Coordinate with
the O-Train Confederation Line
Multimodal Operations
June 7, 2016Technical Briefing

2. 2
Premium Fares – Current
• OC Transpo currently charges a premium fare on
direct-to-downtown “Express” routes, which operate
from Kanata/Stittsville, Barrhaven, and Orléans to
downtown;
• Adult express fare (+23 per cent to +50 per cent
surcharge);
• Student express fare (+17 per cent surcharge); and
• No premium has ever been charged on 90-series rapid
transit routes, nor on direct-to-downtown routes from
locations inside the greenbelt or from the south.

3. 3
Premium Fares: Why is Change Needed?
• With the expansion of the Transitway system and improvements
to the transit network, “Express” routes are no longer clearly
distinct from regular-fare routes;
• With the opening of the O-Train Confederation Line, all current
“Express” routes will change to Connexion routes;
• There will be no difference in service quality between former
“Express” routes and other routes connecting to the O-Train
Confederation Line;
• Charging a premium fare on some routes or trips would be
inequitable and would reduce service quality to everyone; and,
• It will not be possible nor practical to charge premium fares in the
afternoon; doing so would impact service and increase costs.

4. 4
The Evolution of the Express Distinction
Historical Express Service Characteristic Current Status
Transfer-free trips to downtown Also available since the 1980s on Transitway
bus routes from all districts
Limited-stop trips to downtown Also available on Transitway bus routes from
all districts, stopping only at stations
Consistently available in suburban areas Some newer suburban areas served only by
regular-fare bus routes
Seat availability on high-floor buses Entire fleet converted to low-floor buses
(reduced seats; some customers stand)
Lower-fare customers excluded The adoption of the U-Pass and Community
Pass has opened “Express” routes to these
customers
Higher fares to cover higher operating costs Operating cost of “Express” routes now similar
to operating cost of regular-fare bus routes
2018: LRT opens “Express” service no longer provided

5. 5
In 2018, the Express distinction
will no longer exist
Historical Express Characteristic 2018 Status
Transfer-free trips to downtown Customers from Kanata, Barrhaven and
Orléans on Rapid, Connexion and Local
routes will complete their trips on the O-
Train Confederation Line
Higher fares to cover higher operating cost Operating cost of future Connexion routes
will be similar to operating cost of regular-
fare bus routes
Premium fare charged/checked when
customers board
Customers will no longer pay/prove their
fare when transferring at major transfer
stations, and it is not feasible to do so –
impacts on service and increases costs
• When the O-Train Confederation Line opens, feeder routes will be classified
as: Rapid, Frequent, Connexion, or Local
• Connexion routes will include current express routes but also other peak-
only feeder routes from neighbourhoods to the nearest O-Train station

6. 6
Fare Recalibration
• $190 million in total fare revenue needs to be maintained
to meet the objectives of the long-range financial plan for
transit;
• With the end of Express service, there will be no more
premium fares, reducing fare revenue by $6 million;
• Some fare types need to be recalibrated/adjusted:
– One monthly pass price for adults;
– One monthly pass price for students;
– One e-purse fare for adults; and,
– One cash fare for adults.
• Other fare types remain unchanged.

7. 7
Recommendations
• The removal of premium fares for express routes;
and,
• The adoption of a new recalibrated fare structure to
compensate for the reduction in fare revenue from
the removal of premium fares, as shown in the
following tables.

8. 8
Recalibrated Monthly Passes
Fare type Customers/month July 1 2016 Future
Adult express 13,000 $130.50
$112.25
Adult regular 38,000 $105.75
Student express 400 $99.00
$84.75
Student regular 14,000 $84.25
Senior 65+ 7,000 $42.75 $42.75
Community 5,700 $41.75 $41.75
Future fares in this table do not include 2017 inflationary increases.
Total fare revenue collected from monthly passes would be unchanged.

9. 9
Recalibrated Single-ride Fares
Fare type
July 1
2016
Presto
Future
Presto
July 1
2016
Ticket
No More
Tickets
July 1
2016
Cash
Future
Cash
Express $4.39
$3.30
$4.95
–
$5.15
$3.35
Regular $3.00 $3.30 $3.65
Senior 65+ $2.19 $2.50 – – $2.75 $2.55
Child 6-12 $1.61 $1.65 $1.65 – $1.90 $1.70
Child 0-5 – – – – – –
Future fares in this table do not include 2017 inflationary increases.
Total fare revenue collected from single-ride fares would be unchanged.

10. 10
Automated Fare Control Requires
Fares to be Machine-readable
• The Rapid Transit Fare Control Strategy –
implementing fare vending machines and fare gates
at stations on the O-Train Trillium Line and
Confederation Line – requires that all passes,
transfers, and other fares be machine-readable:
– Smartcards; and,
– 2D barcodes.
• Several fare types will need to be modified to meet
this requirement.

11. 11
Paper Passes and Tickets
• Discontinuation of paper passes and tickets expected
since the adoption of the Presto fare payment system:
– Deferred to assist customers in the transition to
Presto;
• Paper pass and ticket usage has declined;
• Will not be feasible to use paper passes and tickets at
fare gates at O-Train stations; and,
• Monthly passes can be purchased using Presto, and
single-ride fares can be purchased using Presto e-
purse or cash:
– No financial impact to customers.

12. 12
Paper Passes and Tickets
• Paper passes and tickets will be phased out, beginning
with the pass types that have the lowest use:
– Student monthly passes in October 2016;
– Adult monthly passes in June 2017;
– Senior monthly and Community passes in August
2017; and,
– Tickets in November 2017.

13. 13
Other solutions to ensure
fares are machine-readable
• Free fares for children aged 5 or under and for seniors
on Wednesdays:
– Staff will put operational processes into place that
will allow these customers to continue to ride on all
parts of the OC Transpo system once the fare gates
are in place at O-Train stations.
• Event tickets:
– Continue existing service model for which transit
fares are included in ticket price, but with barcodes
on tickets.

14. 14
Other solutions to ensure
fares are machine-readable
• U-Pass
– Working with universities and colleges on solutions to
make U-Pass machine-readable and capable of visual
inspection, so it can be used at fare gates and when
boarding buses; and,
– Pilot project with University of Ottawa underway.
• Connections with the STO
– Fare gates will read and recognize STO’s Multi Card;
and,
– Working with STO on a solution for customers who start
trip on STO and pay using non-smartcard products.

15. 15
Para Transpo Top-up
• Top-up currently required for customers who do not
have express passes, during morning peak period; and
• Originally designed to reduce demand during busy
morning peak, but effect has lessened.
• Recommendation: the removal of the requirement for
a morning top-up on Para Transpo service.

16. 16
Community Pass and Access Pass
• Community Pass currently available to ODSP recipients
and/or Para Transpo registrants, who must top-up
when travelling on Para Transpo service at all times.
• Recommendations:
– Community Pass to be offered only to customers on
ODSP, and that a top-up is not required for this
pass; and,
– A new Access Pass for Para Transpo registrants
who are not on ODSP. Access Pass would be same
price as Community Pass and provide 1/3 discount
for single-ride trips made on Para Transpo.

17. 17
New Youth Monthly Pass
• Student monthly pass currently available to students
aged 19 and under:
– Must show proof of being registered as a student.
• Recommendation: the replacement of the Student
Monthly Pass with a new Youth Monthly Pass:
– Valid for all people aged 19 and under, and would
require proof of age only;
– Extending discount to all youth reduces discount
level from 24 per cent to 23 per cent; and,
– An additional 1,400 youth customers would be
included in this redefinition.

18. 18
Day Pass
• Currently priced at $8.50;
• Available on weekdays for use by one customer; and,
• Available on weekends and some holidays for use by
up to two adults and up to four children aged 12 or
under.
• Recommendation: Day pass price to be set at 3 times
adult single-ride fare
– Clarifies the value of the day pass; and,
– Based on recommended 2016 fares, price would be
$10.00.

19. 19
New Multi-Day Pass
• Very important for Ottawa’s tourism industry.
• Recommendation: the introduction of a new multi-day
pass to be made available starting in 2018:
– Available for between 2 and 7 days;
– Available only at fare vending machines at O-Train
stations;
– Will be priced to encourage ridership and not to lose
fare revenue; and,
– Recommended prices to be considered in the 2018
budget.

20. 20
Intermodal Integrated Fares
• OC Transpo working with VIA Rail Canada to give
VIA’s customers the option of including the cost of
transit in the train fare;
• VIA already partners with other transportation
agencies;
• Tool is built into VIA’s reservation system;
• Tickets would carry barcode and visual print for fare
enforcement and inspection;
• Pricing would be set at regular fare plus any
administrative fee set in contract by VIA; and,
• Staff will work with other intercity transportation carriers
to provide the same opportunity.

21. 21
Fare Distribution Vendor Network
• Currently, OC Transpo’s current vendor network sells
paper passes and tickets;
• With the recommendation to phase out paper passes
and tickets, staff will work with vendors to explore other
products for them to offer, such as preloaded Presto
cards; and,
• Future technology improvements may also allow
vendors to offer other fare products.

22. 22
Social and Other Agencies
• Social and other agencies also provide paper tickets for
their clients;
• With the recommendation to phase out of paper tickets,
staff will make available to the agencies other ways to
prepay single-ride fares, which may include:
– Prepaid Presto cards;
– Group sales of Presto cards; or,
– Special vouchers for use by the clients of these
agencies.

23. 23
Fare Adjustment Timelines
• The City’s fiscal year is from January to December; and,
• Fare prices have historically been in effect from July to June.
• Recommendation: a new fare increase date of January 1st of
each year, to be consistent with the City’s budget year:
– As part of 2017 budget, propose that the fare increase occur
on January 1, 2017 instead of July 1, 2017;
– By advancing the date of change, the increase in fares can be
reduced from 2.5 per cent to 1.25 per cent;
– Eases adjustment to new fare structure, while still maintaining
the same amount of fare revenue budgeted for 2017;
– Excludes U-Pass, which is contractually set to increase in
September of each year; and,
– U-Pass increase would remain at 2.5 per cent.

24. 24
Fare Adjustment Timelines
2015 2016 2017 2018
Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan
6 months 12 months12 months
+2.5% Recalibrate +1.25% +2.5%+2.5%
Express Service continues until
commencement of Revenue
Service of the Confederation Line

25. 25
Annual Fare Adjustments
• Recommended fare table shows a structure of
multipliers, discounts, and rounding rules to set all of
the future fare types from a base fare;
• In future years budgets, staff would calculate the base
fare using the recommended percent fare increase,
and would then recalculate all of the fare types using
this structure; and,
• Process avoids imbalances from year to year in the
overall fare structure.

26. 26
Recommended Fare Table
Fare Type Price Multiplier/ discount
Base fare $3.30
Adult e-purse fare $3.30 100% of the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest nickel.
Seniors’ e-purse fare $2.50 25% discount from the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest nickel.
Child e-purse fare $1.65 50% discount from the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest nickel.
Adult cash fare $3.35 Adult e-purse fare plus $0.05
Seniors’ cash fare $2.55 Seniors’ e-purse fare plus $0.05
Child cash fare $1.70 Child e-purse fare plus $0.05
Discounted Para Transpo fare
with Access Pass
$2.20 2/3 of the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest nickel.
Rural Para Transpo fare $9.00 2.7 x the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.
Adult monthly pass $112.25 34 x the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.
Youth monthly pass $86.50 23% discount from the adult monthly pass. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.
Seniors’ monthly pass $42.75 62% discount from the adult monthly pass. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.
Community monthly pass $41.75 63% discount from the adult monthly pass. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.
Access monthly pass $41.75 63% discount from the adult monthly pass. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.
U-Pass per semester $197.52 Fixed by contract
Day pass $10.00 3 x the base fare. Rounded up to the nearest quarter.

27. 27
Para Transpo Cash Fares
• New ParaPay system is currently being tested by
customers; and,
• From July 1, 2016, a discrepancy will exist between the
approved cash fares for Para Transpo customers and
the discounted e-purse fares for conventional transit
customers.
• Recommendation:
– Hold cash fares on Para Transpo at e-Purse fares
until December 31, 2016; and,
– Reduction in fare revenue to be funded from the
capital budget for the Presto smartcard project.

28. 28
QUESTIONS?