REGINA — All Regina Transit fares have increased by 10 per cent as of Wednesday.
The increase came after city council opted to find $585,000 in savings during the 2026 budget deliberations to reduce the pass mill rate by 10.9 per cent.
With the increase, here are the new rates for fares:
- Single cash ride (adult, youth, senior): $3.50;
- Single ride (electronic payment): $3.20;
- Daily cap (electronic payment): $9.60;
- Monthly cap (electronic payment): $97;
- 10 rides: $32 (adult and senior), $27 (youth);
- 20 rides: $61 (adult and senior), $51 (youth);
- 31-day bus pass: $97 (adult), $66 (youth), $33 (senior);
- 31-day post-secondary bus pass: $66;
- Four-month post-secondary bus pass: $286;
- Discount bus pass: $28;
- Semi-annual bus pass: $488 (adult), $330 (youth), $175 (senior);
- Annual pass: $297 (only for seniors);
- Affordable bus pass: $78 (adult and senior), $53 (youth);
- Employer bus pass — annual: $970 (adult), $660 (youth).
Ridership expected to decrease
The City of Regina is anticipating ridership to decrease with the 10 per cent hike, according to its transit director, Nathan Luhning.
“We expect to see a similar decrease to what we saw back in 2017. So it might be around that three per cent to four per cent decrease.”
In the mid-2010s, the city decided to phase in new transit fare increases over three years.
Over that period, the adult cash fare rose by 75 per cent, while the cost of a monthly adult bus pass climbed from $30 to $92.
While 2017 saw a drop in ridership, the city saw numbers rebound the following year.
“We expect that there might be a temporary decrease in ridership, but we expect that to increase within a year,” said Luhning.
Before Wednesday’s fare increase, Regina ridership had seen positive numbers, drawing over 7.5 million riders in 2023.
More hikes coming?
At this time, Luhning said no future hikes have been considered.
However, he did say the city evaluates the cost of transit every year.
“There are increases to the inputs to run transit, whether it be fuel, parts or just the day-to-day operations,” Luhning said.
Both fuel and operational costs for the transit system are increasing due to tariffs and global conflicts.
Transit advocates have also urged the city to eliminate fares, following the lead of other Canadian municipalities that offer free public transit.
Luhning said free transit would likely boost ridership, but would also require additional resources.
“If you make it free, you want to make sure that you have the service in place so everybody can get on the bus and make sure it’s a safe ride for everybody.”
Ultimately, the decision on free transit falls to city council.
