ETS fares set to increase Friday

City staff are proposing a fee hike for the U-Pass transit program with fees increasing from $150 to $170 per student, per semester. The hike would affect roughly 60,000 Edmonton students.

The fare to ride an Edmonton Transit System bus, or LRT train, will go up Friday, the city said in a press release.

City officials said the ETS cash fare will jump from $3 to $3.20 starting on Feb. 1 – in addition to increases for a number of other fare categories.

Also on Friday, 10 packs of bus tickets will increase to $24 for adults, and $21 for youth and seniors – plus, an adult monthly pass and the monthly DATS pass will cost $89.

The cost of riding the bus all day will increase to $9 – while a post-secondary monthly pass will cost $81, the youth monthly pass will cost $69, while a Senior Citizen Monthly Pass will increase to $14.

On April 1, the cost of the Senior Citizen Annual Pass will increase to $125, while the low-income version of the senior citizen annual pass will go up to $54.

“The new fares were set as part of the 2013 City budget process,” Patricia Waisman with ETS said in a press release. “They remain comparable to those in similar sized transit systems across Canada.”

The changes will apply to all February 2013 transit fare products – however, unexpired tickets will be honoured, regardless of purchase date.

Also on Feb. 1, the city said transit riders using Route 747 (to the Edmonton International Airport) will be allowed to use two ETS Adult tickets for a one-way fare, as an alternative to the current $5 fare.

A full breakdown of all ETS fares can be found online.