Town council has rejected a proposal to spend $31,000 to audit the number of riders using Milton Transit.
The proposal was championed by Ward 4 Councillor Rick Malboeuf, who told councillors Monday night that the official ridership numbers produced by the electronic fare boxes on the buses don’t appear to jibe with informal counts he has made by following buses and watching riders at the GO station.
“As much as I hate to spend $31,000, I believe this audit is necessary,” he said. “Based on what I have seen, I have trouble believing the numbers I have been presented with.”
The proposed audit would have manually counted the number of passengers boarding and departing all buses for a six-day period. Official numbers are generated by the recording of fares and tickets deposited into the electronic fare boxes, with bus drivers maintaining a manual count of passengers travelling with transit passes.
Malboeuf’s contention that there are fewer passengers on the buses than the official numbers suggest didn’t gain much traction with his fellow councillors.
“Do we really think that there’s some anonymous person stuffing money in fare boxes?” asked Councillor Rick Di Lorenzo.
Malboeuf declined to offer an explanation during the public council session, suggesting he would discuss his theories in private session if his fellow councillors wished.
“We’re spending $3 million a year on transit — let’s make sure that its being appropriately spent,” he said.
John Brophy, senior manager of infrastructure, told council that the fare counting system used by Milton is standard throughout the GTA.
“We’re pretty confident that the numbers coming through the farebox are accurate,” he said.
The motion was defeated on a recorded vote, with only Malboeuf and Councillor Mike Cluett voting in favour of the audit.
