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GTHA Transit Fare Integration

Seeing QP now only has about 6 months left before fare integration, is there any word on when exactly it will be implemented and more importantly, what exactly it's suppose to look like? 6 months isn't much time to update all of Presto, fare machines, and let the public know ahead of time what exactly is going to change and how it will impact their ride and wallet.
It will be discussed and designed by the end of the year, then it will be implemented right before the next election.
 
Seeing QP now only has about 6 months left before fare integration, is there any word on when exactly it will be implemented and more importantly, what exactly it's suppose to look like? 6 months isn't much time to update all of Presto, fare machines, and let the public know ahead of time what exactly is going to change and how it will impact their ride and wallet.
I believe that this will just be a really simple fare integration at first, that focuses on a discount for transferring from one network to another.

Something more complex like fare zones etc will probably be added as time goes on.
 
Stouffville line alone opens up a lot of trip possiblities if the last/first mile fares are waived.
Trips that cost $3.70: Kennedy to Milliken, Agincourt to Unionville, Milliken to Centennial, Milliken to Markham

On the Kitchener line, Bloor GO to Weston can replace Weston bus trips.
Bloor GO to Etobicoke North is also $3.70
In Weston, I'll be curious to see whether a co-fare pushes people from UPX onto GO, even with its less frequent and slightly slower trips in rush hour. I can't imagine the co-fare would apply to UPX (using TTC-fare). Perhaps if the base fare is the UP, and TTC is a free addition. UPX probably deserves some sort of premium.
 
If passengers treat GO as an "premium express" service within the City of Toronto, people could accept the higher cost of GO. In return, the passengers would get a faster ride. With integration of fares, the "last mile kilometre" on the TTC could draw more people on both the TTC & GO.

no. that is completely unacceptable and no one in Toronto should be ok with the higher GO fare within Toronto. it has to be the exact same fare as the TTC period. we're paying for the majority of the cost of the new GO stations within the city of Toronto and with it should come complete fair integration. no premium fares, no additional costs, no exceptions. nothing.

when i lived in Berlin the S-Bahn & U-Bahn were 100% integrated, as it is in many different cities. there are fare zones (AB or BC), but you can change from bus, tram, metro etc... without any additional costs within those zones and that's exactly how it should be or needs to be. i don't care how they figure it out, just figure it out. the next mayor needs to fight hard for this. we need GO to run like a subway within Toronto. same fare, similar frequencies.
 
^^^^ I totally agree. Only one person knows what the best option is for transit riders and that is the rider themselves. It shouldn't matter whether you take the streetcar, the bus, subway, LRT, or horse & buggy, the trip from A to B should be the same regardless of the technology.

This would not only encourage many people to take transit but is also a matter of social equity. The province is spending untold billions on upgrading GO and hence everyone should be able to use the service regardless of income. If they add a surcharge for taking GO, then it effectively becomes nothing more than a luxury liner that the plebeians may look at but not take.

If Queens Park were to spend billions for a new hospital and then when it opens it charges fees for usage, people would be irate and the situation is no different for transit.
 
I wouldn't put that past the current Ontario government....

People love to bitch about Ford but on the transit file Ontarians, and especially Torontonians, have never had it so good. He is the best transit Premier Ontario has ever had.

He is not only funding monstrous new projects but also has started to bring in fare integration. The Liberals had the previous 15 years to do it and did nothing and nor did they make commitments to the DRL little alone the far superior OL. They also pledged GO funding but drew out the process so they wouldn't have to fund everything they said they would and their plan was 15 minute service and Ford's funding blows that level of service out of the water. For transit supporters, Ford is a wet dream and every other jurisdiction in NA would kill to have a Premier like Ford.
 
People love to bitch about Ford but on the transit file Ontarians, and especially Torontonians, have never had it so good. He is the best transit Premier Ontario has ever had.

He is not only funding monstrous new projects but also has started to bring in fare integration. The Liberals had the previous 15 years to do it and did nothing and nor did they make commitments to the DRL little alone the far superior OL. They also pledged GO funding but drew out the process so they wouldn't have to fund everything they said they would and their plan was 15 minute service and Ford's funding blows that level of service out of the water. For transit supporters, Ford is a wet dream and every other jurisdiction in NA would kill to have a Premier like Ford.
My comment was wrt charging for medical care, which the current government under Doug Ford would undoubtedly consider. They have already increased private use of public healthcare facilities.

Yes, I applaud that they are doing transit projects. I still think they are on balance the worst government the province has ever had, and after Harris, that's saying a lot.
 
People love to bitch about Ford but on the transit file Ontarians, and especially Torontonians, have never had it so good. He is the best transit Premier Ontario has ever had.
I hate that I have to agree with this.

He is not only funding monstrous new projects but also has started to bring in fare integration. The Liberals had the previous 15 years to do it ...
I wouldn't go that far yet. With the TTC's precarious finances, they only way this is going to succeed is either the government coughing up an extra subsidy, or TTC raising fares.

The slow rate of progress seems little changed since the McGuinty days.
 
My comment was wrt charging for medical care, which the current government under Doug Ford would undoubtedly consider. They have already increased private use of public healthcare facilities.

Yes, I applaud that they are doing transit projects. I still think they are on balance the worst government the province has ever had, and after Harris, that's saying a lot.
Nothing like shiny new infrastructure to distract from all their other awful policies and ideas.
 
People may dislike Ford for numerous reasons but his policies on the transit file is definitely not one of them.

As for fare integration he has already brought it in with GO for all of the 905 and not only from the jurisdiction the rider starts from but also where he/she ends. As for what the future integration actually turns out to be, it will still be a vast improvement on the mess the Liberals left and will include the TTC. Hopefully it is the model brought forth by the TBOT but no matter what it is it will be light years ahead of the Liberal's policy which was to do absolutely nothing which they excelled at.
 
People may dislike Ford for numerous reasons but his policies on the transit file is definitely not one of them.
He's doubtless done some good things (or is trying to do) but let's not give the guy too much credit.

Mulroney's handling of the Crosstown file alone is frankly resignation-worthy. SmartTrack has plenty of blame to go around.
How much the Ontario Line routing is tied into what's going on with Therme is worth questioning. We could also get into the whole thing with the Osgoode Trees (specifically, the Minister's interference with the messaging). And THAT is without getting into the hypocrisy of them pushing the Bradford Bypass and 413 at the same time, if we're looking at transportation, as a whole.

At the end of the day, the Province's messing about with Metrolinx (not that other governments didn't do it too) will make it difficult when it comes time to sell the public on the fare integration. I'm cautiously optimistic they come up with something decent but, notwtihstanding that they have advanced some crucial infrastructure projects, I wouldn't give them a blanket, "They've been great on transit!" either.
 
complete fare integration with GO RER within the city of Toronto would add 113.7 km of rapid transit.

Lakeshore East: 28.5 km
Lakeshore West: 15.6 km
Kitchener: 21.6 km
Barrie: 20.5 km
Stouffville: 27.5 km
___________________________
Total: 113.7 km

Milton/Midtown: 45.4 km
Richmond Hill: 24.3 km

eventually adding Milton/Midtown + Richmond Hill would bring it to 183.4 km total.
 
He's doubtless done some good things (or is trying to do) but let's not give the guy too much credit.

Mulroney's handling of the Crosstown file alone is frankly resignation-worthy. SmartTrack has plenty of blame to go around.
How much the Ontario Line routing is tied into what's going on with Therme is worth questioning. We could also get into the whole thing with the Osgoode Trees (specifically, the Minister's interference with the messaging). And THAT is without getting into the hypocrisy of them pushing the Bradford Bypass and 413 at the same time, if we're looking at transportation, as a whole.

At the end of the day, the Province's messing about with Metrolinx (not that other governments didn't do it too) will make it difficult when it comes time to sell the public on the fare integration. I'm cautiously optimistic they come up with something decent but, notwtihstanding that they have advanced some crucial infrastructure projects, I wouldn't give them a blanket, "They've been great on transit!" either.
I would say that the simple fact half of these things are getting done at all is a big part of what makes Ford good on the transit file- the Liberals can take all the credit for starting things, but Ford has accelerated many of them. People like to hear investments are being made into transportation overall, too; the 905 likes GO and their highways.

For me, I lend credit because it is a fairly atypical transportation stance for the PCs. I can’t help but observe it as a good political move, because it covers one more thing the Liberals typically try to capitalize on. It’s a sign of good things to come if opposing alternating governments all will invest in transit rather than just one or two parties, reducing the chance of another dark period.

With that said, he has played his fair share of games as well. Were the DRL to OL changes necessary, temporary cancellation of the Hamilton LRT, attempting to cancel other LRTs, the list goes on. But it does seem he rebounded off of those decisions early on to feed into this new pro-transit image.
 

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