City administration will have a future date with council when it comes to fare free transit.
Current River Ward councillor Andrew Foulds came back Monday night with a motion to examine alternative fare strategies, which received unanimous support.
Foulds originally pushed for a pilot project for fare free transit one day a month during budget deliberations.
“This measure is two-fold,” remarked Foulds. “First we’re interested in options, go do some work within our system what is possible what might work. Secondly it’s consulting with stakeholders who might have some input that might be valuable. We want to hear from Poverty Free Thunder Bay, the Lakehead Social Planning Council as well as the Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board.”
In January council was presented with three options beyond a system-wide fare free model:
- Demographic-specific, fare free
- Time-specific free or fare discounted transit
- Affordable monthly pass program
The councillor stresses the goal is to have the Fare Strategy Review before the elected body so that a decision can be made one way or another in time for the 2022 Capital and Operating Budget.
More of the conversation with Andrew Foulds can be found below
