Publications and Research

Autumn 2004

Asset Prices and Monetary Policy: A Canadian Perspective on the Issues by Jack Selody and Carolyn Wilkins Real Return Bonds: Monetary Policy Credibility and Short-Term Inflation Forecasting by Christopher Reid, Frédéric Dion, and Ian Christensen The Evolving Financial System and Public Policy: Conference Highlights and Lessons by Pierre St-Amant and Carolyn Wilkins The Canadian Experience with Counterfeiting by John F. Chant Summary of the G-20 Workshop on Developing Strong Domestic Financial Markets, 26-27 April 2004 by Joerg Stephan, Deutsche Bundesbank, and James Powell, Robert Lafrance, and James Haley, Bank of Canada Monetary Policy and Uncertainty Remarks by David Longworth, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada See also: Tables A1, A2, and Notes to the Tables Full Review (PDF, 486 kb)

Cover: Bus Transportation Tokens and Tickets

Canadians taking the bus use millions of tickets each day. These small, colourful bits of paper have a long history of use in Canada. In the early nineteenth century, metal tokens were issued to those who had prepaid a trip, whether it was across a bridge or to ride on a ferry or a train. With the rise of mass transit companies in urban centres, the natural outgrowth of this practice was to issue bus tokens. The tokens used by firms operating horse-drawn coaches, electric trams, and motor-driven buses were manufactured from an array of materials, including copper, brass, fibre, vulcanite, and paper. Plastic was later added to

this list. In recent decades, paper has become the medium of choice because it is the most economical.

From the issuer's viewpoint, bus tickets have several advantages over cash payments. Tickets provide drivers with some security against robbery because there is no need to carry cash to make change. They enable the transportation company to secure payment for its services in advance without having to wait for the exact date of the fare. And as a non-reusable substitute for money, tickets reduce the firm's cost of sorting the various coins that people use to pay fares.

In the past, companies issued more than one type of token or ticket for different passengers. Fares were based on age (child vs. adult), frequency of use (student vs. worker), or the distance that a passenger had to travel (central business district vs. suburbs). The shapes and colours of tickets and tokens reflected these different fares, making it easy for the driver to verify that the correct amount had been paid. Today, one type of ticket is typically issued, and differences in fare are dealt with by increasing or decreasing the number required. Changes in colour usually coincide with rate hikes. Tickets are issued in perforated sheets to facilitate separation for use. Rates are rendered either as a numerical value or in terms of the service; for example, "Good for One Fare." Bus tickets are generally produced in the town or city where the transportation company operates. This accounts for the lack of a standardized design or form among the tickets of different municipalities.

The pieces illustrated on the cover range in size from 12 mm to 38 mm in diameter or width. They form part of the National Currency Collection, Bank of Canada.

Photography by Gord Carter, Ottawa