TRANSIT PASS PROGRAM

The Government of Canada introduced its transit pass program in November 2004 to help reduce greenhouse gas and other emissions and provide employees with a convenient annual transit pass.

Employees from the National Capital Region participating in the program will receive 15 per cent off regular OC Transpo fares by purchasing a pass through payroll deductions. La Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) riders will receive 10 per cent off regular fares and pay through pre-authorized bank debits. Discounts are not subsidized by the Government of Canada.

This initiative is the result of a very successful one-year pilot project involving more than 900 employees in four government departments in the National Capital Region: Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Transport Canada, and Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada.

Public Works and Government Services Canada was selected as the first department to roll out the program in the National Capital Region for several reasons, including:

• it made the necessary adjustments to its pay and compensation system to allow for payroll deductions; and
• its employees in the National Capital Region are equally distributed between Ontario and Quebec, thus providing a balanced split of OC Transpo and STO users.

In 2000, Transport Canada chaired a working group with other government departments to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas and other air emissions. The group created the transit pass program to encourage federal employees to find more environmentally friendly ways of travelling to work than personal use vehicles, such as mass transit.

The program is part of a Government of Canada initiative to accelerate progress in reducing emissions from federal government operations. The Federal House In Order Initiative is the Government of Canada's plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions within its own operations by 31 per cent by 2010 in order to meet Canada's climate change commitments. To show leadership in addressing climate change, all departments, agencies and Crown corporations are being challenged to undertake their own program to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This initiative forms part of Canada's $500 million Action Plan 2000, which is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout Canada.

Transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, accounting for approximately 25 per cent of the total. This sector presents important opportunities and challenges for Canada in meeting its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, which was negotiated in December 1997 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Increasing transit use is a key component of Canada's Kyoto strategy. It also supports the Government of Canada's objectives under the One-Tonne Challenge, which calls on individual Canadians to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by one tonne per year.

November 2004