CELPIP Reading Part 4 Practice Test: Free Transit For Youth And Seniors

From next July, riders under 19 and over 65 could board Lakeport Transit buses free of charge, provided council endorses a proposal unveiled last week by Mayor Diane Okafor. The forgone fares, an estimated $6.8 million annually, have provoked an acrimonious dispute over who should pay.

Okafor characterizes the plan as an investment, not an expense: young people accustomed to transit tend to remain riders as adults, while seniors who can get around remain healthier and more self-reliant. She would finance it with a 1.9 percent property tax increase, roughly $45 a year for the average homeowner.

Councillor Raymond Thibault applauds the goal but questions the targeting. “Plenty of our seniors are financially comfortable,” he points out, “and plenty of young renting families are scrambling to make ends meet.” A couple on a tight budget would pay full fare while a retired dentist rode for nothing. He favours an income-based discount pass available at any age.

Walter Brennan, who chairs the Lakeport Seniors’ Council, dismisses that alternative. Whenever people must prove they are poor, many never apply, whether out of pride or bewilderment at the paperwork. “Free means free,” he insists, “and that’s what coaxes isolated residents out of their apartments.” Many surrendered their licences long since and depend on relatives for transportation to medical appointments.

Dr. Helen Cho, a transportation researcher at Lakeport University, is more circumspect. Where fares have been abolished, ridership typically increases, yet it is sidewalks and bicycle lanes, not parking lots, that empty. If the objective is fewer cars, frequent service might be the wiser expenditure. “A free bus every forty minutes is still one most commuters will disregard,” she notes. Without opposing the plan, she recommends a two-year pilot.

Sandeep Rao, president of the Downtown Business Association, proposes a modest levy on commercial parking lots instead. “A bus rider is a shopper who needs no parking space,” he reasons, whereas suburban homeowners who rarely see a bus should not carry the entire load.

Sixteen-year-old Ava Lindqvist spends about $70 a month on passes to reach her part-time grocery job, nearly a full shift’s pay. Above all, she craves predictability. Council votes in November.

Having driven a Lakeport bus for twenty-six years, I welcome the mayor’s plan. Mr. Thibault’s 6. Choose…two-year trialparking-lot surchargemodest tax hikemeans-tested pass sounds equitable on paper, but Mr. Brennan understands that 7. Choose…seniors rely on relatives for ridesfree rides keep older people healthymost new riders used to walkproof of need deters many. I watched riders trudge home through snow sooner than fill out a form at City Hall, and none of the seniors on my route would ever have asked for a discount.

Still, homeowners should not 8. Choose…receive free passesfoot the whole billpay a parking levyfund a two-year pilot project. I prefer the remedy of 9. Choose…Mayor OkaforDr. ChoMr. ThibaultMr. Rao, which asks those with the most to gain to chip in. And Dr. Cho rightly reminds us that 10. Choose…a two-year pilot would settle the whole argumentformer pedestrians will fill the new seatsa low fare can’t offset a long waitfree rides keep older residents active: a price of zero means little at a lonely stop. Approve the plan, review it honestly in two years, and stop arguing while people wait at the stop.