On April 30, the Alberta government announced they would be pulling out $6.2 million of funding from the Low-Income Transit Pass (LITP) in Calgary. The outcry from community was instant and the decision was quickly reversed. It shows just how important affordable and accessible transportation is for a vibrant city.  

We took a look at some key facts about the LITP: 

• The majority of the low-income transit pass users are employed. One in four are employed full-time, and access to the LITP allowed nine in 10 users to look for jobs they wouldn’t have before if they were unemployed at the time of purchasing. 
• Access to transportation also enables people to access services like health and mental health supports, community workers and agencies like the food bank which may not be close to a person’s home. In fact, 77% of users were able to attend medical and other appointments with greater ease. 
• In the first quarter of 2024, more than 129,000 people in Calgary registered to use the LITP program, which is a 27% increase since early last year.  

Transport poverty, or the lack of transport options that are affordable and accessible, impacts about 40% of Canadians living on low-income in Canada’s eight largest cities. This lack of access to affordable and accessible transportation goes hand in hand with the housing affordability crisis, as many people living on low incomes  are pushed away from the city core, where access to transit may be limited.