City hall may overhaul the bus-pass subsidy program that’s been in place for more than a half-century by offering it based on financial need, not age or disability.

The proposal, which politicians will debate next week, calls for an end to the program that since the 1950s has cut by 25 per cent the London Transit passes for seniors and given the blind free rides since the 1980s.

A regularly priced bus pass costs $81.

In place of that program, city staff is recommending the following:

Subsidies be doled out to riders 18 and older based on their “ability to pay.”

Those eligible would have to be living below the so-called “low income cut-off measure.”

The subsidy would cut the cost by 50 per cent (to $40.50 a month).

The city will this year spend $583,927 subsidizing bus passes. That budget is set to increase to $616,045 by 2019.

Based on this year’s budget, city staff say 1,222 low-income Londoners could get bus passes at a 50 per cent discount. It’s estimated there are 32,475 people living below the low-income line in the city – about two per cent of whom are seniors.

The proposal will be debated by council’s community and protective services committee next week. City staff are recommending the politicians then pass it on to a public meeting on Dec. 13 before making a decision.

If the changes get political approval, city staff wants it in place as a two-year pilot project starting Jan. 1, 2018.

“Civic administration have really been tasked with finding new models of doing things that make sense, and not just doing it the way we always have,” said Coun. Virginia Ridley, the committee chair.

“It’s something I’m interested in exploring.”

On a related note, city staff say the city has no money to fund a proposal to let children younger than 13 to ride London Transit for free.

Staff suggest that the 2017 budget would need to be increased to make it a reality. That, however, seems unlikely.

Earlier this week, Mayor Matt Brown warned his colleagues against increasing the expected tax hike of 2.8 per cent -- and that was based on a minuscule potential jump to 2.9 per cent.

pmaloney@postmedia.com

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