HALIFAX—Following months of debate and final approval from council earlier this month, transit riders will have to dig some extra change out of their pockets before boarding buses and ferries, starting Monday.

The standard fares are going up 25 cents, with a new adult fare of $2.75, and youth and seniors fares of $2. A new six-month pilot program allows children 12 and under to ride for free.

Fares for commuter buses are also going up, with a new adult fare of $4.25, and youth and senior fares of $3.

Any bus tickets that have already been purchased under the old pricing will be honoured, but new ones will be pricier. A sheet of 10 adult tickets will cost $24.75, up from $20, and a sheet of 10 youth or seniors tickets will be $18, up from $14.50.

Monthly bus passes, too, will go up in price. Adults will pay $82.50, up from $78, and youth and senior passes will rise from $58 to $60.

Free child fare will run until at least the end of March 2020, with the possibility of being made permanent. Old child bus tickets can be transferred to youth and seniors, but they won’t be refunded.

Halifax regional council first approved a fare hike in January 2019, looking to bring in an additional $812,000 in annual revenue. The director of Halifax Transit, David Reage, had told councillors that “wages, fuel and the like” had increased with inflation and needed to be offset with higher fares.

Municipal staff reported that Halifax’s transit fares were tied with those in Victoria, B.C., for the lowest among comparably populated cities in Canada, including London, Ont., Hamilton, Ont. and Laval, Que.

The fare hikes are the first since 2013, when they also rose by 25 cents.

Read more about: