Budget - Transit

Peterborough Transit operates the conventional public transit system, which is designed to provide service within 450 metres of 90% of the residents of the city as well as specialized transit service to ensure equity and access to residents with mobility requirements.

Ridership in 2024 increased 28% over 2023 (January - June). Post-Secondary ridership is having the greatest impact; however, adult ridership has also increased by 10%. The addition of 4 full time drivers has permitted the weekday bus schedules frequency to be increased to half hour from hourly to every half hour (weekdays from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) has helped. As example, route #4 "Weller” increased by 78%. Increasing transit service frequency attracts ridership. Given the current economy, transit provides an alternative to driving and the expenses associated with owning a vehicle. Increasing route frequency can encourage citizens to forgo the cost of a vehicle and choose transit. There is a request in the 2025 budget for another 4 full time drivers. This will be applied to increased service on weekdays and Saturdays if approved.

Progress on the new Transit Garage will continue in 2025. The property purchase should be finalized in Q1 once the results of the environmental due diligence are received, which will inform risk management for site planning and development.

The alternative fuel sources study for transit vehicles will be completed in Q4 2024. However, due to limitations of the current garage facility, the resulting vehicle procurement and new fuel dispensing infrastructure will likely be deferred until construction of the new garage facility.

The accessible bus stops and bus shelter projects along with the conventional bus refurbishment project will continue into 2025, with assistance from Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) funding. Four replacement conventional buses are expected to arrive in January 2025.

The updated Transit Bylaw approved in 2024, new guidelines for Transit will allow expansion of service to areas outside the city which may include the airport business complex. This will permit service delivery to Seneca College, a potential second mid-large flight school, and the businesses in the surrounding area.

The Peterborough Transit Liaison Committee continues to meet and discuss transit concerns and strategies for service improvements.
Higher fuel, insurance cost and inflation are contributing to increased net operating costs for 2025, as well as increased salary and benefits costs as approved with the current Collective Agreement with the ATU which came into effect July 1, 2023.

Interactive Budget

Explore the City's budget using the interactive OpenBook feature, including expenses by department and division as well as a breakdown of what a typical residential property taxpayer pays per $100,000 of assessment.

• Expenses page - Transit Budget in OpenBook 

The full budget information is available in the Draft 2025 Budget book.

Provincial Gas Tax

In October 2004, the Province of Ontario announced the Gas Tax Rebate Program, which provides 2 cents/litre of gas tax to assist in funding improvements to service delivery that supports transit ridership growth. The program generates funds for public transportation, which is subject to change annually based on annual sales of gasoline.

The total allocation is based on 70% transit ridership and 30% municipal population. Public transportation ridership will include the totals of both conventional and specialized public transportation services. The funds are placed in a Provincial Gas Tax Reserve Fund when received and then transferred from the reserve fund to finance authorized expenditures. 

The authorized expenditures include:

• Public transportation capital expenditures that promote increased transit ridership and are above a municipality's baseline spending.
• Public transportation operating expenditures that are above a municipality’s baseline spending.
• Capital expenditures that provide improvements to transit security and passenger safety and are above a municipality’s baseline spending.
• Major bus refurbishment on any fully accessible, or to be made fully accessible, public transportation vehicle.

Provincial gas tax funds cannot be used to offset expenditures in other municipal departments.

For 2025, an amount of $1.79 million will be drawn from the Provincial Gas Tax Reserve Fund to offset expected costs in Conventional and Specialized Transit operations. Dedicated gas tax funds are not to exceed 75% of the municipalities own spending on public transportation.

The Transit Division has requested new staff positions not included in the budget. These requests can be found in Section 4 Staffing Requests not included in the Draft 2025 Budget.

2025 Capital

The Draft 2025 Budget for Transit includes the following capital projects: Transit Garage Replacement; Replacement Conventional Bus and Conventional Bus Refurbishment; Transit Stops and Shelters; Phase 2 of Transit ITS Program; Accessible Transit Stops.

Full details are available in the Draft 2025 Budget Book.