TheTigerMaster
Superstar
We have no thread for the TTC budget. I think it's about time one was started, since budgeting is critical to everything the TTC does.
Edit: Amended the title to include discussion on TTC fares. Any discussion on fare system (e.g. fare-by-distance vs. flat rate and fare prices) should go here. Presto implementation discussion should remain in the Presto thread.
Let's start off with the Preliminary TTC 2016 Operating Budget-Steve Munro.
Mayor John Tory had requested a 2% reduction in the TTC budget for 2016. The preliminary 2016 budget has come back with a $99 Million requested increase in the subsidy. That's an increase of 21%:
Edit: Amended the title to include discussion on TTC fares. Any discussion on fare system (e.g. fare-by-distance vs. flat rate and fare prices) should go here. Presto implementation discussion should remain in the Presto thread.
Let's start off with the Preliminary TTC 2016 Operating Budget-Steve Munro.
Mayor John Tory had requested a 2% reduction in the TTC budget for 2016. The preliminary 2016 budget has come back with a $99 Million requested increase in the subsidy. That's an increase of 21%:
Steve Munro said:The preliminary operating budget will require $99 million more in subsidy (before any fare increase) than in 2015, an increase of almost 21% that is bound to drive the budget hawks on Council mad.
This is the inevitable budget arithmetic:Expenses go up because there are more riders
These three items compound into a year-over-year value that is not the simple inflationary increase of a few percent many on Council hope to see, and certainly not the 2% reduction asked for by Mayor Tory.
- Expenses go up because there are more riders
- Expenses go up because the quality of service has been improved
- Expenses go up because of inflation
If Council gives the TTC 2% more subsidy for 2016, this would be $9.48 million, but nowhere near the $99 million they need. Equally, if Council were to cut the subsidy by 2%, it would decline by the same amount leaving an even bigger hole for the TTC to fill.
The fare revenue increase shown above is the combined effect of more riders in 2016, but riding at a slightly decreased average fare because of the uptake of Metropasses as the preferred payment method. Supposing that the TTC were left with $90 million to find (after a $10 million bump from the City), this would require a 7.8% fare increase (with no allowance for lost ridership). A lower fare increase requires a higher subsidy, or a decision to roll back some of the service improvements that are only now at the announcement stage, not even yet on the streets.
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