Submitted by Councillor D. Hill:
WHEREAS the Statistics Canada December 2022 Labour Force Survey found that approximately 1 out of every 10 workers now works both at home and at an employer provided workspace (commonly referred to as “hybrid working").
WHEREAS over one hundred thousand federal public sector employees who work in Ottawa have been instructed by the Federal Government to return to work on a hybrid basis of two to three days per week.
WHEREAS other Private Sector employers have also begun to require employees to work from the office using a hybrid working model.
WHEREAS Priority 7 of the Climate Change Master Plan calls on the City of Ottawa to incentivize private action to reduce GHG emissions, including increasing usage of public transit.
WHEREAS a worker using transit to commute to work fulltime would make on average 44 trips per work month and an employee only commuting for two days a week may make ten or less trips over the same period.
WHEREAS a worker using a Monthly Pass to commute to work fulltime would save an average of $37.30 when commuting to work 22 days a month, and that same worker would now stand to lose $51.50 if using a Monthly Pass and commuting to work 10 days a month.
WHEREAS the current OC Transpo Monthly Pass is designed to provide subscribers with value after their 34th trip or after their 17th day and is no longer financially valuable to hybrid workers working in an office two or less days per work week.
WHEREAS the approximate average cost of parking in downtown Ottawa is $20.00 per day and competing with the cost of parking has not proved a sufficient financial incentive to attract hybrid workers back to public transit.
WHEREAS the New York Metro Transit Authority, the largest transit provider in North America, has introduced an innovative 20-Trip Ticket for its Metro North Railroad to provide a 20% discount to incentive hybrid workers taking the Authority’s Metro North Railroad.
WHEREAS commuters have spent three years reconditioned to using their cars, and innovative incentives are required to change their behavior and entice hybrid workers back to public transit.
WHEREAS a current barrier to public transit is the lack of incentive for many hybrid workers to get a transit pass because there is no subscription that meets their needs.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Transit Commission direct staff to develop, and report back to Transit Commission and Council on, a new monthly renewable fare model targeted to hybrid workers.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the new subscription model be designed to provide hybrid workers with similar incentives as they received when using the Monthly Pass to commute to work five days a week.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT an appropriate marketing plan that addresses the cost of private vehicle parking, the significant increase in highway traffic year-over-year, and the benefits of the new hybrid pass by developed for launch in concert with the new subscription model.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT staff provide to the Transit Commission a report by Q3 2023 outlining their progress on the development of the new subscription model or models with a goal of implementation no later than Q4 2023.