You’ll have to pay more to ride the bus in Durham and Waterloo regions, starting Canada Day, Sunday, July 1.

Durham Region

Cash, tickets and monthly pass Durham Region Transit fare rates for adult, senior, student and child passengers increase about three percent, starting July 1. The new fare structure continues to provide passengers with a larger discount when they buy tickets or monthly passes, instead of paying cash fares for each trip.

If you’re an adult, the cash fare to ride DRT buses goes up by ten cents, to $3, instead of $2.90. If you’re a senior, you’ll pay five cents more, with your fares increasing to $1.95, instead of $1.90.

For adult passengers, the cost to buy a monthly pass jumps to $100 each month from $97, for students to $84 from $81.50, for seniors to $40.25 from $39 and for children to $59.50 from $57.65.

Durham Region’s council approved increasing the fares in February as a way to support the increasing costs to operate DRT. Except for U-Pass programs for post-secondary students and charter rates increases and an increase in the student cash fare, DRT has not increased general fares since July, 2009.

Starting Saturday, December 1, DRT will withdraw its Specialized Services monthly pass to introduce fare parity for specialized services passengers. To comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), all DRT monthly passes, tickets and cash fares, in all fare categories, adult, student, senior and child, will be valid on Specialized Services for registered passengers.

Fare exchange

You can still use “old” tickets on DRT buses until Wednesday, July 31. However, you’ll have to ‘top up’ your fare by throwing in some more coins into the fare box, along with your old ticket. For adults, add ten cents. If you’re a senior using multi-ride tickets, drop a nickel into the farebox. If you’re a student add ten cents, and if you’re a child, add five.

You can exchange your ‘old’ tickets for new ones, from Suday, July 1 until Wednesday, October 31. Bring your old tickets to buy a “top-up” at:

• DRT Headquarters, 350 Rossland Road East, Whitby, Mondays to Fridays from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (Visit the cashiers on main floor at front counter.)
• DRT Westney, 110 Westney Road, South, Ajax, Mondays to Fridays from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
• United Way Star Assist Information Kiosk, Oshawa Centre, Oshawa, Mondays to Fridays from 9:30 a.m. until 9 p.m., Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.

(Note that you’ll have to buy a full ten-ride card or 10-ride ticket and pay the “top up” on each remaining ride you haven’t used yet.)

To exchange old tickets after November 1, write DRT to ask it exchange your old tickets. Include your old tickets in your letter. Send your request to: Durham Region Transit, 605 Rossland Road East Box 623, Whitby, ON, L1N 6A3.

You can view a complete list of the new fares, and more details on how to exchange old tickets for new ones, here.

Waterloo Region

Last month, the Region of Waterloo’s Council approved raising Grand River Transit fares, starting July 1.

Cash, ticket and pass prices increase, but the price of photo identification cards remains the same. Also, all GRT fares will be available to passengers who use MobilityPLUS, GRT’s accessible door-to-door service and MobilityPLUS tickets will no longer be available after July 1.

GRT says, “This fare increase will assist in funding the ongoing service improvement programs.”

GRT is hiking the cost of cash fares for adult passengers from $2.50 to $3. You’ll have to fork over another $5 to buy an adult monthly pass — $68, instead of $65. You’ll pay $10.70, instead of $9.75 to get a strip of five adult tickets.

You can view a list of both the new and old fares here.

GRT has not announced a policy for exchanging ‘old’ tickets for new ones.