With the advent of the new year, there are several changes and new initiatives Orléans residents should be aware of. First of all, the cost of everything from taking the bus to taking a swim in a municipal pool has gone up as of Jan. 1.

An adult OC Tramspo pass is now $135 per month, while a youth monthly pass is now $104. Senior monhly passes won’t go up until Feb. 1 when they will cost $58.25.

A single ride fare for riders 13 and over is now $4, if you pay by card, and $4.05 if you pay by cash. The single-ride fare for youth 12 and under is now $2 if you pay by e-purse and $4 if you pay by cash.

On street parking rates have also gone up and now sit at a maximum $5, while parking rates at the city’s municipal parking lots, excluding municipal beaches, will remain unchanged.

The increase in parking rates includes Petrie Island where the 30-minute rate will increase from $0.25 to $1.25.

User fees for the city’s recreation facilities have gone up by 2.9 per cent across the board along with the admission fees for the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum.

The City’s anti-idling bylaw has also changed as of Jan. 1. The maximum idling time for occupied vehicles is now three minutes per hour when the temperature is between zero degrees celcius and 27 celcius, and 10 minutes when the temperature is colder than zero degrees or warmer than 27.

The maximum idling time for an unoccupied vehicle is now one minute per hour, regardless of the temperature.

On a more positive note, you can now take the O-Train all the way to the airport with opening of the Line 2 extension from Greenboro Station to the South Keys Station and Line 4 from South Keys to the airport. Both extensions became operational on Jan. 6.

The province has also enacted a number of changes for 2025.

The total threshold to report a collision involving property damage to police in Ontario has been increased from $2,000 to $5,000.

Also in 2025, the province’s colleges and universities will be required to establish clear policies to support student mental health, as well as address and prevent racism and hate on campus. The post-secondary institutions will also be able to take advantage of $23 million in funding the province set aside in 2024 to enhance mental health supports.

Those are the changes that came into effect on Jan. 1. There are a number of other changes that will have an impact on local residents as the year progresses.

Chief among them is the expected opening of the Confederation Line extension from Blair Road Station to Trim Road, next fall.

The highly anticipated opening is expected provide a significant boost in ridership as commuters will be able to get on the O-Train at stations at Trim Road, Place d’Orléans, Orléans Blvd., and Jeanne d’Arc Blvd. and ride it all the way downtown and points further south including Carleton University, South Keys and the airport.

Unfortunately, the Confederation Line opening will coincide with OC Transpo’s “New Way To Bus” initiative which will see a drastic reduction in the number and frequency of local routes as the service transitions to a hub and spoke system aimed at getting commuters to and from the LRT stations. That includes the elimination of several 200-series routes.

When it’s all said and done, the changes will mean 74,000 fewer hours of bus service per year, which equates to a 3.5 per cent reduction in total service.