The City of Saskatoon is looking at the possibility of raising the age for free Transit from 5 to 13 and under. The Governance and Priorities Committee meeting heard in a report from the General Manager of Transportation and Construction, Terry Schmidt, that many cities have expanded their free ridership to elementary school-aged children. Regina did so in September of last year, with free rides when accompanied by a fare-paying adult. In the first eight months, Regina Transit reported an increase of about 260 per cent or about 81,000 rides. But Regina’s experience also included a rise in disruptive incidents involving unsupervised youth and a possible increase in high school students not paying bus fare.

The report noted that many cities have gone this route. Schmidt says in Saskatoon right now the revenue from child fares is about $200,000 a year, but based on Regina’s experience, he believes there is a strong possibility that the majority of the revenue could be recovered through increased adult fares for those accompanying children 13 and under.

Two motions were approved at the meeting. The first was that Administration report back on operational details and how the plan would be implemented, including engagement with stakeholders, and the second was that this be discussed during budget deliberations for possible implementation next September if there are no Transit revenue budget impacts.