Toronto transit may get a fare increase
November 2015
Public transportation is a large part of people’s everyday life in Toronto. There are 2.8 million people living in Toronto, most of which are using four subway lines, eleven streetcar routes and more than 140 bus routes to get around the city. The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is responsible for providing public transit in Toronto and has been considering a fare increase to serve the public better.
Not everyone agrees that raising fares is the best solution for improving transit. Wesley Couture-Burke, a first-year student at Humber College, thinks the price increase for transportation would not be a good idea. “It would affect me a lot if it would go up because I’m a student and I can’t afford transit as it is,” he said.
According to a recent poll, commutes to work in Toronto have been getting longer over the last four years for reasons that include: a transit system in need of improvement; an increase in the city’s population; and road construction.
In the Ipsos Reid poll, in 2014, 57 percent said their commute got longer within the last four years, and 41 percent said it did not change.
According to Statistics Canada, the 2011 census showed that “The percentage of commuters who used public transit for the longest part of their trip was 12.0% in Canada in 2011. By comparison, 11.0% of commuters reported taking public transit in the 2006 Census of Population. In the 2011 NHS, detailed information about the type of public transit used was collected for the first time. Of public transit users, 63.5% commuted by bus, 25.0% by subway or elevated rail, 11.2% by light rail, streetcar or commuter train, and 0.3% by ferry.”
In an interview with Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs Aid, he said a lot of time is spent getting around the city, and people are looking for a solution to this. “What everybody agrees on is it’s getting harder to get around in this town and that it’s been getting worse over time. People have been reporting that they’re spending a lot of time just getting around in this city, and they want to see some sort of solution but when you actually come down
to what the solution is, there really doesn’t seem to be a consensus on that point.”
In an interview with Susan Sperling, a spokesperson for TTC Communications, she explained how the TTC has already started improving its services. She said, “We are raising the cost of transit, but that includes important service improvements, including opening the subway earlier on Sundays. The TTC Board voted yesterday on a fare increase of ten cents per token and 25 cents for cash fare, but a freeze on all passes and on senior and student fares.”
Sperling also said the TTC had made some changes in the past few months to improve service, “We’ve added more all-day, every-day service and more 10-minute or better service. We need to do work on the weekends on some important state-of- good-repair issues. Mostly, only people who travel the TTC on the weekends are impacted by this work.”
As for the service improvements, effective November 22, 2015, the TTC has reduced off-peak crowding on the 504 King, 165 Weston Road North and 96 Wilson, created a ten-minute network on the 165 Weston Road North and 96 Wilson, an added an all day, everyday service from six a.m. to one — one thirty a.m.
Being a student who can barely afford the current public transit fares, Couture-Burke wants to see more changes happen to the TTC. He said, “The TTC needs to expand its subway system. That way there’s more options for people to get to work or school or wherever. It’s common sense.”
On January 3, 2016, the new TTC fare will be increased and implemented in the system. The TTC anticipates carrying 555 million riders in 2016, with an operating budget of $1.7 billion.
Miriam Serafini, a clerk at the Italian Consulate in Toronto, commutes from her home to her workplace by car. She said she also had problems with public transit in the past. “I hope that they will improve public transit so that it will dissuade many of us from taking our cars to go to work. I take part Lakeshore, part Gardiner, and then Spadina for the last track. Right now it’s
super congested because the Gardiner, some of the lanes on the Gardiner have been closed for construction over the past few months and it is taking me a bit longer than normal. It usually would take me about 20–25 minutes, and now it’s taking me more like half an hour to 35 minutes.”
Serafini also said that she would “ditch” her car and go back to taking public transit regularly if they improved their service and lowered the fares.
So far, the response to the fare increase has been negative. TTC riders have been protesting against the fare increase, saying that Mayor John Tory broke his promise about freezing fares last year. “It’s just not right. The fares should be more reasonable for people because it’s hard for some people to pay that kind of money just to get from A to B,” Couture-Burke said.
Like most large cities, public transit presents many challenges. Hope for a better transit system, and fair prices for transit fare is still in the hearts of many TTC riders. “The system has to function properly so transportation can run more smoothly. In order for that to happen, the TTC needs to find a way to make that more affordable for everyone,” Serafini said.
