July 12, 2023 — Press release from the City of Burlington
Starting Aug. 1, 2023, seniors 65 years and older can ride Burlington Transit for free. This was approved by Burlington City Council at their regular council meeting on July 11, 2023.
As part of the 2023 budget, Council also approved Free Transit for Youth which will also start on Aug. 1, 2023. Youth 13 to 19 years can ride Burlington Transit for free on evenings after 6 p.m. and all day on weekends.
Seniors and youth can ride for free when they tap their PRESTO card when getting on Burlington Transit. PRESTO cards can be purchased with the Senior or Youth category applied at several locations in Burlington including:
- The Downtown Burlington Transit Bus Terminal, 430 John St.
- All Shoppers Drug Mart locations in Burlington
PRESTO cards can be purchased for $6 at any of the PRESTO service locations or Youth and Senior PRESTO cards are available at no charge during July and August. These cards are only available at the Downtown Burlington Transit Bus Terminal, 430 John St., while supplies last.
Since Burlington City Council introduced free travel for seniors mid-day on weekdays, we have seen an increase in seniors choosing transit as their way to get around Burlington. We are thrilled to extend this program to offer seniors free transit all day, every day on our buses. We are also delighted to provide youth, ages 13 to 19, the opportunity to take transit to many of the great locations that Burlington Transit goes. These initiatives are possible thanks to the strong support of our mayor and councillors.
Catherine Baldelli, Director of Transit
Background
In 2019, Burlington City Council approved the Free Transit for Seniors pilot. This offered seniors 65 years and older, free rides on Burlington Transit on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The pilot started in May 2019 and was made permanent in the 2022 budget. To measure the success of the program, seniors needed a PRESTO card to get free transit. Outside of that time, seniors would pay a fare to use transit. From May 2019 to February 2020, senior ridership increased by 41 per cent due to free transit for seniors. Senior ridership is currently at 91 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and was 22 per cent higher in the fall of 2022 compared to the fall of 2018.
