Look what I found: my bus pass from June 1979! I had a lot more hair back then. This bus pass is now about 10,000 days old. It has somehow managed to stick with me – undetected – for 27 years and 10 moves.
And look, it only cost $16 for a bus pass in 1979!
I immediately stopped packing, and found an online inflation calculator, which shows that if the price of a bus pass had kept pace with inflation, it should now cost $43.57 for a bus pass in Ottawa. But guess what? It costs $72.00.
Interesting that the design of the pass hasn’t changed much in nearly three decades.
Really? That’s interesting. I’m about to buy my first bus pass in about 27 years next month, after I move, so I haven’t been following the changes over time. I guess it would be safe to say that the increase in the cost cannot be accounted for by inflation OR extraordinary design expenses.
I’ve got a rough idea of where you’re moving to. I used to travel along one of the major routes thereabouts and timing the trip to avoid the buses crammed full of high school students might be a sanity saving strategy.
Uh oh! Thanks for the tip Heather. Are those students going to Glebe, or some other high school? Maybe I could walk halfway and then grab a bus once I get past Glebe.
The school boards have co-ordinated with OCTranspo and extra buses go onto some of the routes with different numbers at shcool hours. I don’t know if it’s everywhere or not.
Don’t forget if you can get to the Experimental Farm on a bike, you can easily reach the canal and downtown that way. Not in winter though.
The largest crowd used to be going to/from Laurentian. It’s been three years (I think) since I took that route though and there was some talk about closing Laurentian.
Depending on what connections you need to make you might need the 176 (travels north/south) or the 118 (travels east/west). The 151 can be handy if a bit slow if you need to travel somewhere between Carlingwood and Westboro)
What a cool find. You kept it again, right?