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GTHA Transit Fare Integration

I'm not sure if this is the best thread or I should put this in the GO Service thread, but here's the latest question on the previous government's proposal to implement $3 GO fares and the response from the current government, which is basically no decision has been made on if it'll happen. They've noted previously they didn't run on this specific commitment.

https://twitter.com/JessicaBellTO/status/1052651825634062338 [video of the Q and A from QP]
 
^I consider this dead. It's a shame. You can build all the transit but if people can't afford it they are not going to ride it.
 
^I consider this dead. It's a shame. You can build all the transit but if people can't afford it they are not going to ride it.

Capacity has an even larger influence than price. The price doesn't matter much if you can't get on the train. If GO had a bunch of capacity to spare, as it did on UPX, then it makes sense to lower the rate. At this point expansion needs every dollar it can get even without a reduced fare incentive.

Second, with a 2025 RER completion date even a 2-term Ford government will be out of office pretty soon after it's operating. The 2026 election can be over GO fare subsidies.
 
There is absolutely no analogy here. Luxembourg, in large part due to it`s money laundering, is a far wealthier country than Canada in a physical area of a large Ontario county, with one/100th Canada`s population. A better analogy would be if they started having free transit in Berlin.
 
Capacity has an even larger influence than price. The price doesn't matter much if you can't get on the train. If GO had a bunch of capacity to spare, as it did on UPX, then it makes sense to lower the rate. At this point expansion needs every dollar it can get even without a reduced fare incentive.

Second, with a 2025 RER completion date even a 2-term Ford government will be out of office pretty soon after it's operating. The 2026 election can be over GO fare subsidies.

While there maybe capacity issues in rush hour, that is not the case off peak or on weekends in fact it's quite the opposite with tons of spare capacity.. Full fare integration or better yet just a TTC fare for all Toronto GO riders in non-rush hours would not be an issue and is fairly common in the world. It would also tend to help the people who need it most and are the most sensitive to prices...……….lower paying service sector employees relatively few of whom work standard 9 to 5 office hours.
 
"Go fare pilot begins for travel between Kennedy stop and Toronto Union Station - TTC riders among those to benefit from new option and lower price" from Metrolinx's blog. To summarize, Metrolinx will reduce the GO fare between Union and Kennedy to $3.70 for 18 months starting on Saturday, November 23, 2019. This is a drop from the current $4.75 fare to travel between the two stops. The pilot also includes fares between Exhibition and Kennedy which will also be dropped to $3.70 (blog post didn't specify by how much). Add this with the $1.50 TTC fare and the total for most commuter will come out to be $5.20 one-way. Hopefully this will provide, even just, a bit of short term relief for Bloor-Yonge station. Even if it doesn't, it still opens up the precedent for more fare integration as GO service ramps up train service and gives lower income riders a much faster alternative than the milk run on the Bloor-Danforth line.
 
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Turns out there's a thread for this. Moving this from the Presto Fare Card thread.




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The idea of fare zones is one that I have always supported and it looks like this is the one that will be implemented and that's nothing but good news.

I think this map has too many different zones as they should be done on a regional basis. Halton should be one zone as should Peel and Toronto. There can certainly be exceptions where there is a clear distinction between urban & rural areas or the regional government boundaries are huge like Caledon in Peel, northern York, and Durham. Still the idea is sound. Not only does this make sense from a operational point of view but also a taxation one. Some taxes are levied or transferred over to regional levels and so they are easier to administer on a regional basis but also it makes sense for the individual rider. A person may not know "technically" whether they are crossing into another city but certainly know when they are crossing into a different county/region. This is what York Region did well. You don't have to worry about crossing some silly artificial boundary between RH & Vaughn and you shouldn't have to between Oakville & Burlington, Brampton & Miss or within the City of Toronto.

There is one BIG caveat however.............the zone fares must apply to ALL transportation options including GO. Only one person knows the best way for the rider to get from A to B and it's not City Hall, Metrolinx, or a policy wonk but rather the rider themselves. They know what's best for them and whether it's commuter rail, RER, subway, bus, LRT, streetcar, horse & buggy, or all of the above is irrelevant, going from A to B should be the same price no matter how you get there.
 
We've put together a front page story on the Toronto Region Board of Trade's recent report entitled Erasing The Invisible Line, Integrating Toronto Region's Transit Networks. It's on the front page here, check it out!

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I feel like Burlington and Oakville should be in the same zone. They're both fairly small with similar demographics and built form (I think).

It would also be nice if this included southern Simcoe County (are we getting the short end of the stick?) and if it was clear where "Inner Toronto" meets "Outer Toronto".
 

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