Scrap bus fare hike before it's too late, anti-poverty advocate says

An anti-poverty advocate is trying to convince St. John's city council to scrap a proposed hike in bus fares, but time is running out.

Council is set to vote on a budget next week that would see an increase of 25 cents per ride on bothMetrobusandGoBus, the St. John's areapara-transitsystem.

• Transit rate hikes 'thoughtless and backward,' says anti-poverty advocate

"Almost every other major Canadian city has a low-income bus pass for people living in poverty and seniors, St. John's doesn't," said Dan Meades, provincial co-ordinatorwith the Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"So, not only are we not doing the progressive thing, the thoughtful thing, the right thing, by making it easier for folks living in poverty to get on the bus, we're doing the exact opposite and making it more expensive for those individuals," he said.

Meades said other cities raise more revenue from ridership by increasing fares for people who can afford it, "but everywhere else they decrease fares for people who can't afford it."

He said response from councillors is mixed, but he's hoping they can come up with a solution before it's too late.

"Today is the go day for this, city council is going to have a meeting tonight and if they make the right choice on this they're going to do it this evening, by the time the 12th rolls around the budget is going to be an omnibus bill that they can't change," said Meades.

"I've given them lots of options to change it, we've got individuals like Deputy Mayor RonEllsworthwho voted against it incommittee... andSheilaghO'Learywho said she'll vote against the budget if this is in it."

Meades said he wants council to freeze fares for the next 12 months, and take that time to look at how to implement a low-income transit pass.