Once TTC says ‘Presto,’ charging riders less at off-peak times could reduce congestion, say some observers.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ttc/2013/02/06/should_rush_hour_commuters_pay_more_to_take_the_ttc.html
Charging more for peak and lower price for off rush hour is a common practice in many countries. Makes a lot of sense to me. The Yonge line for example is only crowded during a few hours and for the rest of the day, it is usually half or 75% empty. Charging a lower price might encourage transit during this time and increase ttc's revenue.
I'm sure this report has been discussed numerous times in numerous threads, but unfortunately I wasn't following this forum when it was hot, so I'm going to comment on it here.
The report this article was based on I felt was written from a shakedown perspective, rather than one to promote transit growth and infrastructure. People going longer distances? Freeloaders, let's charge them more! Times when transit is in higher demand? Time to capitalize, let's charge them more!
The tone I got from it completely ignored the fact that transit users pay the highest share of their transit costs than anywhere else on the continent. On top of this, mass transit is a public service, so profit should not be the driving motive behind fare structures. If some lines happen to operate in the black, that's great. But if profitability is the driving factor behind transit planning, then perhaps we should consider allowing independent service providers in to compete with the government transit service, instead of giving the government its own money making monopoly in mass transit.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't look to increasing the costs to ride transit to help sustain and improve it, but we shouldn't be looking to exploit the situation either. For example, Toronto would be best to look at how York Region handles longer transit trips. While we have zoned fairs (including buffer zones), we also have two hour transfers to further encourage local trips. Another idea could be to charge a premium for rapid transit services, as we already do for express bus routes.
One idea which comes to mind is that local bus routes would cost $2.60 with Presto, and if you transfer on to the subway, Transit City light rail, Rocket BRT, or downtown express route your fare is increased to $2.65 - or essentially be charged an extra nickel when you tap. Meanwhile, all taps include 2 hours of unlimited usage* (local taps provide only local usage, rapid taps and upgrades include local and high speed services).