A provincial program for cities that offer discounted transit rate to low-income earners has been expanded to six more centres, a sign the City of Medicine Hat hopes is good news for its continuation of receiving funding.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
A program that helps subsidize transit budgets in Alberta’s towns and cities is being expanded – a signal the City of Medicine Hat sees as potentially good news for future budgets.
On Tuesday, Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon announced a program worth $14 million this year to reimburse cities which offer discounted rates to low-income earners on bus fare will be extended to six new centres, including Red Deer and Lethbridge.
Medicine Hat was included in an initial announcement last February and receives $300,000 this budget year to cover the cost of a “Fair Entry” discount that covers 75 per cent of the cost of bus passes.
“We’ve haven’t had any direct communications about renewing that agreement to this point,” said Leah Prestayko, the director of the city’s community development department, which includes transit. “But we believe, and are quite heartened by the announcement today, that given they are expanding to six new communities, we expect that our funding will continue as well.”
Starting this year, the city’s “Fair Entry Program” for some city services was expanded to include a maximum discount on transit monthly passes of $630 per year per qualified low-income earner.
Prestayko said 20 per cent of transit passes sold by the city are connected to the “Fair Entry” program, and the difference is made up by the provincial program.
The city also provides passes for up to three months free of all charges to those resettling in the city from the Ukraine and all those who qualify for federal refugee status. That foregone income is also covered by the program.
Local elected and administrative officials had long argued that provincial dollars coming into the City Transit budget would help bolster revenue, increase ridership and reduce the amount of dollars needed from general revenue to pay for operations.
The province is adding $1.7 million to the program, Nixon said Tuesday, to provide amounts to transit authorities in Camrose, Hinton, Leduc, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Spruce Grove.
Of the original $14-million allotment from the province, Calgary and Edmonton each receive about $6 million.
