For nearly half a century, Torontonians have been assured of at least one perk of growing old: getting a discount on the TTC.
But with major changes coming to the transit agency’s fare structure, some at city hall are starting to ask — is it time to do away with seniors fares?
Sparking the conversation is council’s
recent approval of the Fair Pass Program, which would provide discounted fares for low-income adults of all ages.
Speaking before the decisive vote on Dec. 14, TTC chair Josh Colle told his colleagues that it’s unlikely the city will be able to pay for the program — which will cost $48 million a year when it’s fully implemented — while also retaining discounts for seniors and other groups.
The approval of the Fair Pass “will trigger another discussion” about whether the existing transit discounts are a good use of public funds, Colle predicted.
“Forever, our concession has only ever been based on age. And while I understand that seniors vote and that seniors are vocal, they’re also some of the wealthiest people in our city,” he said.
Colle acknowledged mid-speech that some of his colleagues were looking at him as though he were “crazy” to suggest ending concession or discounted fares for older residents, who vote at rates much higher than their younger counterparts.
The Fair Pass won’t start being phased in until 2018, and in an interview Colle said there are no imminent plans to scrap seniors fares. “I don’t think the seniors concession is going anywhere, maybe forever, or maybe for a long time,” he said.
Yet other cities are already taking action. Days after Colle’s speech, London, Ont.’s council voted to discontinue their seniors fare program and replace it with a low-income transit pass.
In Toronto, seniors discounts have been a staple of the TTC fare structure since 1971, when Metro council instituted half-price tickets for all people 65 and older. At the time politicians framed the decision as one that would help alleviate the effects of poverty on the older population.
The city’s seniors were less financially stable than they are today, however, and there is evidence that these days giving every older people a break on their transit trips isn’t an efficient way to subsidize transit for those in need.
The TTC offers discounts to several groups in addition to people 65 and older; students between 13 and 19 years of age, post-secondary students and children 12 and younger who ride free. Together these “concession fares” cost the transit commission about $72 million a year.
Out of all of them, the seniors discount is the least cost efficient in terms of the number of low-income people it serves,
according to a recent TTC report.
The discount gives people 65 and older a 21 per cent markdown on Metropasses and a 33 per cent reduction on single fares. It costs the city $23.3 million a year.
About 10 per cent of seniors, or fewer than 40,000 people, are living on a low income, according to the transit agency. That means the discount works out to a subsidy of $601 a year per low-income senior.
By contrast, the policy of allowing children 12 and under ride free is the most cost-effective of the TTC’s concession fares, at a cost of $80 per low-income child. Almost 30 per cent of kids in the city come from low-income households, and the free ride program costs about $8 million.
Adina Lebo, chairman of the downtown Toronto chapter of CARP, a seniors advocacy group, argues that discounts for all older people should be preserved.
Although low-income seniors would still be eligible for the same discounts they have now under the Fair Pass program, to be eligible an adult living alone would have to be receiving an annual income of $22,537 or less.
Lebo said that “many seniors” live on fixed incomes that are more than that but are still less than $30,000. She warned that eliminating the discount for all seniors would mean that older people who make only slightly more than the low-income cut off would become “homebound.”
“These people count on the TTC several times a day to go grocery shopping, to go to the doctor, to go to the dentist, to be involved in society,” she said. “If the seniors discount were to disappear, they would be disadvantaged, and they wouldn’t have the money… to keep active and to keep healthy.”
Lebo said she was also concerned the paperworkinvolved in applying for the Fair Pass program would be a “stumbling block” for older residents. Accessing the current seniors discount requires only a government-issued photo ID.
Advocacy group TTCriders also opposes eliminating low fares for seniors. Executive director Jessica Bell said it’s not fair to raid one discount in order to pay for that of another group.
“The reason is riders already pay way too much to ride the TTC as it is. We have some of the most expensive fares in North America,” she said.
Increasing fares for any group will make it more likely that they will find an alternative form of transport, which will decrease public transit ridership, she said.
“It’s a good thing to increase ridership on the TTC. It’s good for the city, it’s good for everyone. When you hike fares, there are people who will say, ‘I’m not going to ride today’.”
Council’s
seniors advocate says that opposition to scrapping the TTC discount likely isn’t as strong among the city’s elderly as people think.
Councillor Josh Matlow, who meets with seniors groups on regular basis, said he’s spoken to many who would be willing to part with their cheaper transit fares, as long as those in the direst need would be eligible for a Fair Pass.
Among them is Mary Hynes, who showed up at a TTC meeting in November to tell the board that slashing fares for all older people is “grossly unfair.”
“I am appalled, dismayed, downright frustrated and angry,” said Hynes, who is in her early 70s. “My son is on ODSP. He pays full fare. My pension income is five times his.”
“Most seniors tell me that they don’t want to be judged arbitrarily by their age,” Matlow said in an interview. “They want to be judged by who they are, what their means are, what their abilities are.”
“I would hope that council has enough respect for seniors in the city that they have confidence in the fact that they are ready for a thoughtful and reasonable conversation.”
Matlow predicted the argument for getting rid of the seniors discount will become stronger in the coming years.
“Within 20 years, one in five of us are going to be over 65. It’s not realistic to simply say that one in five people in Toronto arbitrarily, given their age, are going to get a discount on public transit,” he said.
