Staff Report #2
September 12, 2023
To All Members of the Accessible Public Transit Service Advisory Committee
Re: Multi-Year Budget Submission
Recommendations
That the report be NOTED and FILED.
Background
At the August 30, 2023 meeting, the Commission approved the multi-year operating and capital budgets, each consisting of a status-quo component and a growth component. The remainder of this report provides a summary overview of what will be submitted to civic administration for inclusion in the multi-year budget deliberations by Municipal Council. Further details with respect to the operating budget process and issues are set out in the Commission’s Staff Reports #1, #2 and #3 dated August 30, 2023 which can be found on the corporate website.
2024-2027 Conventional Service Operating Budget
The table below sets out the 2024-2027 conventional transit service status quo operating budgets as approved by the Commission.
2024-2027 Conventional Transit Service Status Quo Operating Budget Estimates
| Funding Source (millions) | 2023 Proj | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
| Trans/Operating/Reserve | $ 45.837 | $42.001 | $ 42.345 | $ 42.696 | $ 43.054 |
| Provincial Gas Tax | 8.872 | 11.200 | 11.424 | 11.653 | 11.886 |
| City of London | 36.043 | 42.466 | 44.919 | 47.131 | 49.402 |
| Total Operating Budget | $ 90.752 | $ 95.668 | $ 98.688 | $101.479 | $104.341 |
| City of London Increase | 17.8% | 5.3% | 4.7% | 4.6% | |
| Investment Share | 2023 Proj | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
| Trans/Operating/Reserve | 50.5% | 43.9% | 42.9% | 42.1% | 41.3% |
| Provincial Gas Tax | 9.8% | 11.7% | 11.6% | 11.5% | 11.3% |
| City of London | 39.7% | 44.4% | 45.5% | 46.4% | 47.3% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
As indicated earlier in this report, the operating budget was prepared in two parts; status quo and growth. The budget reflected in the table above is based on current service levels, with no improvements over the four year period. Budget lines have been updated for inflationary impacts experienced over the previous four years, and are inclusive of an approximate 18%-20% fare increase. As the table sets out, the increase in City of London funding required to balance the budget going forward is 17.8% in 2024, followed by 5.3%, 4.7% and 4.6% in each of the following years respectively.
The Commission also approved an annual increase of 25,000 service hours to the Conventional Transit Service in each of the four years covered in the multi-year budget. The budget estimates associated with the addition of 25,000 hours in 2024 are set out in the table below, noting future year estimates will be subject to inflationary impacts.
Conventional Transit Growth Budget – 2024
| 25,000 Hours | |
| Transportation Revenue | $ 400,500 |
| Expenditures | 3,044,000 |
| City of London Investment | $ 2,643,500 |
| Incremental C/L Investment over Status Quo Budget | 4.7% |
| Service Hour Increase | 25,000 |
| Ridership Increase | 375,000 |
| Complement Adjustment | 19.9 |
As the table indicates, the addition of 25,000 hours is budgeted to result in an increase of 375,000 rides annually.
2024-2027 Specialized Service Operating Budget
The table below sets out the 2024-2027 Specialized Transit Service status quo operating budgets as approved by the Commission.
2024-2027 Specialized Transit Service Status Quo Operating Budgets
| Funding Source (millions) | 2023 Proj | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
| Passenger Revenue | $ 0.503 | $ 0.778 | $ 0.794 | $ 0.794 | $ 0.794 |
| Provincial Gas Tax | 1.000 | ||||
| City of London | 9.794 | 13.443 | 13.975 | 14.547 | 15.140 |
| Total Operating Budget | $ 11.297 | $14.222 | $14.769 | $ 15.341 | $ 15.934 |
| City of London Increase | 37.3% | 4.0% | 4.1% | 4.1% | |
| Investment Share | 2023 Proj | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
| Passenger Revenue | 4.5% | 5.5% | 5.4% | 5.2% | 5.0% |
| Provincial Gas Tax | 8.9% | ||||
| City of London | 86.7% | 94.5% | 94.6% | 94.8% | 95.0% |
| 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Consistent with the preparation of the Conventional Service budget, the specialized budget was also prepared in two parts; status quo and growth. As the table above indicates, and increase in City of London funding of 37.3% is required in 2024 to maintain the same service levels, followed by increases of 4.0%, 4.1% and 4.1% in each of the respective years covered by the multi-year budget.
The Commission also approved increases in service hours of 20,000 annual hours in 2024 and 2025, followed by 10,000 in 2026 and 8,000 in 2027. The table below sets out the operating estimates for 2024 associated with the growth budget.
Specialized Transit Growth Budget – 2024
| 20,000 Hours | |
| Transportation Revenue | $ 91,700 |
| Expenditures | 1,774,000 |
| City of London Investment | $ 1,682,300 |
| Incremental C/L Investment over Status Quo Budget | 3.0% |
| Service Hour Increase | 20,000 |
| Ridership Increase | 42,300 |
| Complement Adjustment | 3.0 |
As the table indicates, the addition of 20,000 hours is budgeted to provide an additional 42,300 trips annually.
2024-2033 Capital Budget Program
The Commission also approved the 2024-2033 Capital budget program at the August 30, 2023 meeting. The table below provides a summary of the approved 2024 Capital budget program.
2024 Capital Budget Program
| Program | Units | Amount |
| Bus replacement | 17 | $ 14,918,300 |
| ZEB Fleet Transition | 6,783,000 | |
| Bus expansion | 10 | 8,495,000 |
| Electric Bus Trial Program | 10 | 25,960,000 |
| Facility upgrades | 500,000 | |
| Highbury Facility Rebuild | 2,500,000 | |
| Information system software and hardware | 500,000 | |
| Shop and garage equipment | 200,000 | |
| Service fleet replacement | 65,000 | |
| Stop upgrades | 46,000 | |
| Total | 37 | $ 59,967,300 |
| Funding | Amount | |
| Province of Ontario (Provincial gas tax) | $ 0 | |
| LTC Capital Program Reserve Fund | 811,000 | |
| Development charges – City of London | 909,000 | |
| City of London | 26,425,000 | |
| Federal gas tax program – C/L | 4,000,000 | |
| Provincial – ICIP Project Funding | 3,661,300 | |
| Federal ICIP Project Funding | 4,398,000 | |
| Federal Government (Zero Emission Transit Fund) | 12,980,000 | |
| Funding TBD | 6,783,000 | |
| Total | $ 59,967,300 |
Details with respect to the capital budget program for the remaining years is set out in Enclosure I.
Enclosure
I – 2024-2033 Capital Budget Program Summary
Recommended by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager