TTC riders resist fare increase, welcome service boost
Seniors, single mothers, students say they can’t afford to pay an additional dime for a token or $93 more annually for a Metropass if the TTC hikes its fares.
They told the TTC board on Monday that they’re excited about a slate of service improvements being proposed under this year’s budget, but they simply can’t shoulder the burden of paying more toward the TTC’s operating costs.
Fares account for about 94 per cent of TTC revenue with 53 per cent of rides paid for by Metropasses, CEO Andy Byford told the board in a Monday budget meeting.
Councillor Josh Colle, who chairs the TTC board, said the riders’ message was received loud and clear but it’s unlikely there’s any option to increasing fares if the provincial and federal governments won’t help pay to operate transit.
“That is a challenge,” he told reporters at city hall. “The city’s putting in about $600 million into this budget. The money has to come from somewhere. These services have to come from somewhere. Our preferences would be to not have any increases at all but we don’t have the luxury of that position around this table.”
The additional subsidy will enable the TTC to restore bus service that was cut in 2012 during former mayor Rob Ford’s administration; it would increase service to 10 minutes or better on many routes; add more express bus routes; allow children 12 and under to ride for free and allow all-door boarding on all Toronto streetcars.
What is not included in the proposed $95.3 million service boost is the two-hour transfers the TTC was proposing last year at a cost of about $20 million a year. Transit officials say that move will be easier to implement once it gets electronic Presto cards in place by the end of 2016.
A presentation from TTC CEO Andy Byford showed that the system would lose about 1 million riders as a result of the fare increase that would take effect March 1.
However, with additional service on the street, the initial loss is expected to give way to more riders.
But some members of the TTCriders, a transit advocacy group, wondered if it was low-income riders who depend on transit, who might be displaced by people who can better afford a more expensive service.
“If we are talking about a public transit system, it should be publicly funded, not funded out of the pockets of TTC riders who need it the most,” said Kamilla Peitrzyk, who said she is carrying $30,000 in student debt.
Another rider, Jessica Marsden, who depends on social assistance while she upgrades her skills, said she uses the TTC to go to school, volunteer and hand out resumes. If she buys a Metropass and pays her rent, she’s left with only $186 a month to meet her other expenses.
“With this TTC hike I will not have a social life,” she said.
“Some seniors walk for hours to save $1.85,” Helen Lui of the Ontario Chinese Seniors Association said in pitching the idea of a free seniors service one hour a day or one day a month that would permit people to schedule appointments.
The TTC can’t be free, but, “What we do think is possible is to deliver a much enhanced TTC. What’s in that budget delivers that,” said Colle.
