SooToday received the following letter to the editor from Angelina Retta:
In May 2024, city council boasted about a one-time surplus of 6.3 million dollars, calling it 'mad money'.
I've endured the increased cost of public transit in this city so many times I've lost count. The service never gets any better. The stained seats never get any cleaner.
Demanding the most vulnerable citizens pay more is downright cruel. As an employed person who lives below the poverty line, every dollar counts, and paying 7$ to travel to my job and return home is a pay cut I can't afford.
The cost of rent has skyrocketed. The cost of food makes you cry. Medicine? Forget it. Take ibuprofen and call nobody in the morning because you don't have a doctor, and can't afford to take an unpaid sick day.
Don't pick the pocket of transit riders with disabilities that deny them the ability to drive. Don't steal bread money from seniors clutching to a cane. When you raise bus fare, parents can't afford candy for their baby. I see every walk of life on the bus, except people who can afford to shell out more. I don't see those people. City council doesn't take the bus.
– Angelina Retta