Don't give me a credit
Notice: There have been some technical problems publishing to the blog in the past few days (which explains lack of posts, delayed postings, etc.). Blogger is a real bitch sometimes.
As promised, the Conservatives are going to be giving a tax credit equivalent to 15% of the cost of monthly transit passes. Here's the catch: it is retroactive to July 2006, but you have to have kept all your expired passes and submit those with your tax return for eligibility. I don't think anybody has done this... I certainly haven't. This also poses problems for people who use tickets instead of passes, or those who file their taxes online, like myself. It seems like the whole concept of tax returns just creates a logistical nightmare which costs more manpower to operate. Why not simply increase funding to mass transit in order to reduce the fares by 15%? At the end of the day, the incentive is the same -- if not stronger -- and yet it is far more efficient and cost-effective. So now, I am faced with only being eligible for the credit on two months' worth of passes instead of 5 months, AND I have to send in the passes for the credit, though I usually file my taxes online. The Conservative government's policies in this regard do more to discourage people from getting the credit, in my opinion, than to encourage people to use mass transit -- as they should.
2 Comments:
I was doing a budget to figure out whether it would cost me more to take the bus or drive to school this semester and it turns out to be more cost effective to drive. Even given the expensive nature of the parking, it would still cost me more by almost 100$ to take the bus. I'm not sure where exacly it would be saving me money, and even if it was, the convenience the car can offer is by far better then the ones the bus can. Given it's restricted nature here.
Yes, you're right. The bus service in suburban areas tends to be very poor when, in fact, it is precisely the suburban drivers that need to be attracted to mass transit, considering the distances and time that they travel. Communities like the West Island are just built up with transit as a complete afterthought, however, instead of being intelligently planned from the start.
If you already own a car and are paying insurance regardless, it isn't especially economical to take the bus for short distances. However, if you have to factor in the $2-3 of car insurance you pay per day, plus the gas expenses to get to and from school (maybe another $2-3 considering the short distance you travel), and the fact that you own the car regardless, it's probably about break-even by taking the car vs. the bus, and the bus is less convenient.
If you are traveling downtown, for example, there are huge cost savings to be had by taking the train, not to mention that you can sit down in the train and read the paper or something, instead of ripping your hair out during rush hour traffic.
In Ottawa, the cost of transit is actually the highest in Canada. On the flip side, it's actually faster for me to get downtown by bus if I'm traveling during rush hour, because of the reserved bus lanes. Of course, traveling time doubles if I travel outside of rush hour, because of the frequency of buses, and the fact that the express bus does not run. Either way, it's easy to see how a city which is designed with a proper mass transit system can make it enticing both from a cost and convenience standpoint.
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