During the election campaign, I’m sharing parts of my platform in greater detail Monday – Thursday. Friday’s though, I’m going to do a spotlight on past initiatives that I am proud to have played a role in. Government is our collective endeavour and it’s how we do a lot of big things. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together. Today’s spotlight, with all the kids back in school, is youth on transit.
It was back in 2018 that my colleague Councillor Nicoll and I were chatting about youth on transit. I had been looking into what the cutoff age is for kids to ride free in other cities to see how HRM compared (at the time, poorly), while Nicoll was interested in a program in Kingston, Ontario that provides older students with transit passes. We decided to combine our efforts since the result, if we were both successful, would be a comprehensive approach for youth transit access all the way from age 5 to the end of any post-secondary education.
The reason providing youth with access to transit is a good idea is that it normalizes using transit. Expecting someone entering the work world to suddenly start taking transit is harder to do if they have no past experience with transit being part of their lives. Providing youth with access to transit also takes pressure off of household budgets, frees up parents from being chauffeurs, and opens up opportunities for youth to work, volunteer, and participate more fully in extracurricular activities.
Councillor Nicoll and I met with staff and the result was we put forward a motion at the Transportation Standing Committee requesting a staff report on raising the age that kids ride free and on partnering with the Department of Education to provide students with transit passes. The first part was relatively easy since changing the age that kids ride free was a 100% HRM decision. In September 2019, HRM launched a pilot program to raise the age that kids have to pay a fare from 5 and under to 12 and under, instantly returning money to the pockets of families who use transit to get around. The change was made permanent in 2021.
Meanwhile, the second part of Nicoll’s and my efforts required a lot more work since we had to negotiate the agreement with the Province. It has also come to fruition. This year HRM reached an agreement on extending the student pass program to all high schools and junior highs in the municipality. The benefits of this program, I think, will prove to be substantial in the lives of many folks. I have seen the difference that providing transit makes first hand as my daughter and her friends started making trips together to the mall and to each others houses that would have never happened before. That experience of independence has been transformational, and they will hopefully become long-term transit riders are they grow into adulthood. You really can change outcomes at City Hall.
Dartmouth, we do great things together!