OC Transpo senior staff have suggested several options to compensate riders for cancelled bus trips and reduced availability of trains earlier this year, including retroactive refunds, future discounts, or investments in improving reliability.
Costly compensation scenarios
General manager Rick Leary submitted a report to the transit committee that outlines several fare-based options that would compensate riders for unreliable service, but would cost OC Transpo millions.
The report was prepared in response to a motion in February from Capital Coun. Shawn Menard, which called on staff to explore scenarios for compensating riders and report back to the transit committee in May.
Refund options for affected riders
Under one scenario, OC Transpo would offer refunds to customers who were directly impacted by service disruptions from mid-January to the end of March, when a number of bus trips were cancelled due to mechanical issues with OC Transpo's aging diesel fleet and lengthy delivery delays with hybrid electric buses. At the same time, the O-Train was operating with a reduced fleet capacity due to a spalling issue with the wheel bearings that forced a number of train cars out of service.
According to the report from Leary, it would cost OC Transpo $3 million if it provided a 50 per cent refund to customers who paid single-ride fares by Presto card between Jan. 22 and March 31. It would cost $5.2 million if OC Transpo applied a 50 per cent refund to customers who purchased any or all of the January, February, and March monthly passes by Presto card. It would cost $8.2 million to carry out both refund options, and that cost would climb higher if OC Transpo issued refunds to organizations who purchased passes in bulk.
Refund method and limitations
Refunds would be applied as a credit back to each customer's account. However, customers who typically rely on transit but reduced their usage or stopped travelling altogether during the service disruption period would not receive the same level of compensation, Leary wrote. While retroactive refunds would compensate riders, they would not provide an incentive for them to choose transit in the future.
OC Transpo said it is not technically feasible to refund fares to customers who paid by cash, credit card, or debit card.
Future discounts and free fare weekends
Another option to offer future discounts could benefit a broader range of transit users and could attract returning and new customers, according to the report. A half-price discount on monthly passes sold to individual customers would cost OC Transpo $2 million to $2.5 million per month, and that cost would rise if the same discount was offered to organizations who purchase passes in bulk. A similar discount on single-ride fares would cost $3 million to $3.3 million per month. Offering a weekend of free fares would cost OC Transpo $400,000 to $450,000.
