Public transit fares will increase by four per cent on July 1.
TransLink's board of directors voted in favour of increasing the fares following a presentation by Patrice Impey, TransLink's chief financial officer, at the end of its March 26 quarterly meeting.
Cash rates will increase by 15 to 25 cents for adult fares and 10 to 15 cents for concession fares, depending on the number of zones travelled, while "stored value" rates for adults will rise by 10 to 20 cents and for concession, 10 to 15 cents.
"Adult monthly passes increase $4.30 to $7.75 and concession monthly passes increase $2.45," Impey told the board. "Even after these increases TransLInk does continue to have some of the lowest fares of all major transit agencies in Canada. TransLink's new bus cash fare will be equal to Toronto's and lower that Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. Customers who use stored value receive further discounted rates, and even when factoring in zones, only Edmonton transit users will pay less than our riders do, on average."
Impey said since 2020 fare increases had been either cancelled or capped under the rate of inflation, "which has contributed to TransLink's revenues falling behind the growth and costs.
"The 2025 increase will help narrow the gap; fares will continue to be below the cumulated rate of inflation over the year," Impey said.
