Free rides on MiWay buses to be permanent for kids, older adults in Mississauga

Starting next summer, young kids and older adults will ride MiWay transit buses in Mississauga for free — permanently — under a new fee structure given the green light on Wednesday.

Additionally, the City of Mississauga’s budget committee approved a MiWay plan to not increase any bus fares for riders at all in 2025 on the heels of some fare hikes in 2024.

Officials at MiWay, the city’s public transit provider, said ridership growth has allowed them to keep a lid on bus fares heading into next year.

“MiWay ridership has surpassed pre-pandemic levels,” city officials said in a news release on Thursday, referring to what was a long road back to and now beyond passenger numbers MiWay saw prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that struck in early 2020.

Looking ahead, city officials continued, “ridership growth is projected at 14 per cent in 2024 and an additional seven per cent in 2025, enabling council to keep transit fares steady while also supporting continued growth.”

In their roles as members of the budget committee, councillors and the mayor agreed to:

• make permanent a pilot program that since May 2023 has allowed children ages six-to-12 to travel on MiWay buses free of charge (with a Presto card)
• introduce permanent free MiWay rides for older adults ages 65-over (with a Presto card). Those without Presto cards will continue to pay a $1 cash fare

The changes will take effect next July 1.

A MiWay pilot study that introduced the free rides for kids and reduced-fare rides for older adults took effect on May 1, 2023.

Under the pilot, older passengers paid a $1 fare around-the-clock instead of only at certain times of the day/week.

Prior to the launch of the pilot program, kids ages six-to-12 paid a $4 cash fare (or $1.75 via Presto card) while those under six already rode free of charge.

Earlier this year, MiWay introduced some fare hikes that took effect on April 1. They said at the time the increases were needed to help pay for improvements to the city’s public transit system.

The following MiWay fare increases were introduced this past April:

• cash fare — increases from $4 to $4.25
• Presto open payment fare — increases from $4 to $4.25
• Presto youth single fare — increases from $2.45 to $2.65
• Presto adult single fare — increases from $3.20 to $3.40
• Presto adult monthly pass — increases from $131 to $141