On June 18, 2014, Calgary Transit proposed to the City Council a reduction in the age based discounts for seniors which would come into effect on July 1, 2015.Accordingly, the annual pass would be discontinued and seniors would be given the option to purchase a monthly pass of $60 (for regular income seniors) or $44 (for low income seniors). This change from $95 per year to $60 per month ($720 per year) was an increase of 7.6 times and the change from $15 per year to $44 per month ($528 per year) was an increase of 35.2 times.
Our seniors on an interview with CTV
CIAP – Seniors partnered with CCECA and ECCC to advocate on behalf of the seniors in the city against these drastic changes. Senior clients of CIAP were very proactive in collecting petition signatures and sending letters to their ward councillors. In all, we collected 2259 petition signatures and sent 537 letters. On July 18th, CIAP staff and senior clients attended the Standing Policy Committee meeting on Transportation and Transit at City Hall. As a result of our efforts, the committee rejected the proposed changes to the Annual Transit Pass for Seniors which will remain unchanged till the end of 2015.On July 28th staff and 21 senior clients attended the City Council Meeting at City Hall to show their continued support for the cause. The councillors requested Calgary Transit to submit a new Fare Strategy Report that would incorporate a sliding scale fare based on income in October 2014.
Seniors attending the Calgary city counsel meeting
