We often hear it said that many low-income families do not benefit from the tax credit because they do not pay income tax. That argument is debatable. As has been shown by the cities of Calgary, Ottawa, and soon Toronto, the best way of helping low-income families is a social tariff structure to reduce fees and make public transit more affordable for low-income families and Canadians.
Such a reduction allows citizens to spend less money when they purchase their transit tickets by offering discounts of between 20% and 40% on single, weekly and monthly fees. Indeed, the main obstacle to the use of public transit by low-income families and Canadians is having to spend a rather large amount when they purchase their tickets. In fact, when a fee increase is too large, some citizens prefer to walk rather than use the bus.