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TTC approves 15¢ fare hike
Sep 12, 2007 05:45 PM
TESS KALINOWSKI
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
You'll pay more to ride the TTC starting in November - 15 cents on tokens and tickets and $9.25 a month more for a Metropass.
But 37 threatened bus routes and the Sheppard subway will remain in service and a plan to alleviate overcrowding on 77 bus routes, that was postponed this fall, will now take place in February - providing council comes up with some money from a new land transfer tax that Mayor David Miller hopes will finally pass in October.
The fare hike will bring the price of a token or ticket from $2.10 to $2.25 and a monthly Metropass to $109 from $99.75. The single cash fare of $2.75 remains the same.
The service improvements, which should make 77 bus routes more tolerable, could mitigate the loss of riders who might leave the system as a result of the higher price, said TTC Chair Adam Giambrone.
More than half the TTC is overcrowded beyond what transit officials consider a tolerable level.
The fare increase should raise about $35 million in revenue for the TTC, money that is essential if the transit system doesn't want to drive away riders who would like seek alternatives if service continues to decline.
â€When we're overcrowded it takes us longer to board and get off the bus and it limits the system's ability to deal with surge loads such as when school or an event lets out and there's an above-average crowd using the system. More than half the routes in the city are already beyond tolerable,†said TTC Chief General Manager Gary Webster.
"It's very important we have enough service on the street to provide tolerable crowding," he said. "It's important to remind ourselves what our customers have been telling us for years -- ''Service is more important to me than a potential fare hike.' "
Although no one wants a fare hike, a survey of 17,500 riders and residents showed most would prefer it or a tax increase to service cuts.
But several speakers, who appeared before the commission at a special meeting at City Hall today, noted that fare hikes hit hardest at the working poor, students and disadvantaged groups.
Higher transit fares are forcing low-income families to choose between buying shoes for their children and being able to pay their way to work, said Katrina Miller, campaign director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance.
"This isn't a one-time thing," she said. "This will be the third fare increase in three and a half years."
The TTC decided to look at a fare hike and service cuts earlier this summer after the city ordered it to cut $30 million from this year's budget and trim almost $100 million from its expectations for 2008.
But Giambrone said the TTC still needs the city to give it more money to grow the service.