The Agence métropolitaine de transport has announced that, effective immediately, children under the age of 12 can ride free on commuter trains if they’re accompanied by a paying adult.
Buried in the release is that this only applies to July and August (though The Gazette reports they might consider making it permanent). Children 6-11 who aren’t accompanied by an adult still have to pay their fare (and have to get an Opus card to take advantage of reduced fare).
Children who already have a pass for July can get a refund.
The move not only encourages family outings on public transit (the STM has a similar program for kids under 12 on weekends and holidays), but means a lot of kids won’t have to worry about getting Opus cards (under the pre-Opus system, only those age 13 and up needed student ID) until they start school in the fall.
The STL in Laval has a similar system in place for the summer.
That kind of program could be bolder; the STM could catch more people going out by offering pass holders to bring a friend for free after, say, 19h or 20h on every day.
It’s not like the system is overloaded on evenings; the extra people would, at worst, double ridership on evenings, and this would probably let people who would never do so otherwise try transit.
The TTC has a somewhat similar program for weekends and statutory holidays; you can buy a $9 one-day pass, for example, on Saturday morning, and two adults can use the one pass to ride on buses, subways and streetcars.
The pass can also be used by 2 adults and up to 4 children; or one adult and up to 5 children.
http://www3.ttc.ca/Fares_and_passes/Passes/Day_Pass/index.jsp
I know that STM has the tourist card, which IIRC, costs $9 per person for a one-day pass.
However, when I have gone to Toronto as a tourist, their TTC weekend pass is an excellent deal for two people or a family with children.
I’d still like to see seniors ride free. They’ve paid enough taxes.
Shawn, although I agree, I’d much rather see seniors’ fare start at age 60 – many people are retired or semi-retired by then. La Carte vermeil in France starts at 60.