Low-income transit pass users concerned over Calgary budget shortfall

Some low-income transit riders are anxious to find out how Calgary city council’s transit budget shortfall will impact them.

Calgary Transit is sounding the alarm as the agency anticipates a $33 million revenue shortfall for 2025 — it’s leaving some riders worried they could be the ones footing the bill.

Meaghon Reid is the executive director of Vibrant Communities Calgary, a social organization addressing poverty in the city, and says that low-income people she deals with would incur a major financial impact to their livelihood if there was an increase in the price of transit passes.

“The people who are tying to get to work who don’t have a vehicle, who just can’t get there because they can’t afford the cost of transit, they’re going to have to start to make tradeoffs in terms of, do I buy my transit ticket today or do I eat?” she says.

Since 2017, the province has contributed a yearly $4.5 million grant to help offset costs, and increased that amount by $1.7 million last year to help subsidize transit for seniors in multi-generational households.

The province says they have no plans to increase the funding again.

“Transit is a municipal responsibility and the City of Calgary is responsible for managing its Low-Income Transit Pass Program,” says Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon in a statement. “We expect the city to fulfill their responsibilities and are not planning to further increase provincial funding.”

The province walked back its decision to pull funding for low-income transit passes in Calgary and Edmonton earlier this year after a flurry of negative comments from the cities’ mayors and advocates.

Advocates say low-income transit pass users will need a plan if the additional transit fares are passed onto them.

“So the plan looks like, you know, having to beg friends, families and neighbours for rides to get where you’re going,” says Reid. “It looks like having to skip meals and downsize even further if you already miss electricity payments.”

About 139,000 low income passes were distributed in Calgary from January to March of this year, according to numbers from the city — a 27 per cent increase from the same time last year.

Prices for low income passes are determined by an individuals income, and range from $5.80 a month to around $57 a month. A regular monthly transit pass for an adult in Calgary is $115.

City budget talks are expected to continue next week.