The TTC has cleared the first hurdle in approving a $95.3-million slate of service improvements – and a fare increase TTC riders say makes the system less affordable to those who need it most.

The TTC board unanimously approved an operating budget on Monday that will add a dime to the cost of a token and about $93 a year to the price of transit for Metropass users. That increase will raise an additional $29 million toward the system’s approximately $1.6 billion operating costs.

The budget is balanced with a $600-million city subsidy to help pay for the TTC conventional and Wheel-Trans services. That has still to be passed by Toronto’s budget committee and by council. It’s a $38.8-million increase over last year’s subsidy to the TTC.

But it will restore service lost in budget cuts in 2012 and add additional services, including more express buses and more Blue Night buses to the system, said Councillor Josh Colle, who chairs the TTC board.

Children under 12 will be allowed to ride free. That move, he said, means some schools can now plan field trips that were previously unaffordable. That concession will cost the transit system about $7 million a year, but several commissioners said is important to creating a new generation of transit riders.

Other system improvements include allowing streetcar riders to board through the back doors to speed service, along with hiring more fare enforcement officers. There will be two additional subway trains on the Yonge and Bloor lines during rush hours, and reduced crowding on all vehicles with a return to pre-2012 standards.

Colle said he believes council will stand by the TTC’s proposal.

“I do think councillors recognize the need for tangible service improvements, especially after going through massive growth on the ridership side. It’s either just maintaining or cutting services,” he said.

The board also approved the launch of another campaign to persuade the province and federal governments to step in with more transit funding.

Councillor Shelley Carroll, a TTC board member, proposed the province look at a subsidy on a per-rider basis.

“We could have a formula and proceed from there,” she said.

The fare increase would go into effect in March, said TTC CEO Andy Byford, who called the budget a transformational development for the TTC.

Fares account for about 94 per cent of TTC revenue, with 53 per cent of rides paid for by Metropasses, he told the board.

Metropass riders use the system an average of 75 times a month, putting the average cost per ride at about $1.89.

But the fare increase is expected to drive about 2 million rides off the system, although the TTC expects its ridership to increase by about 10 million rides this year overall, to 545 million. The TTC recovers more of its operating costs from the fare box than most other systems in the world.

Riders are thrilled by the service improvements, but the fare increase is going to make transit less affordable, said Jessica Bell, of the TTCriders, a transit advocacy group.

“If we are talking about a public transit system, it should be publicly funded, not funded out of the pockets of TTC riders who need it the most,” said Kamilla Peitrzyk, who said she is carrying $30,000 in student debt.

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Another rider, Jessica Marsden, who depends on social assistance while she upgrades her skills, said she uses the TTC to go to school, volunteer and to hand out resumes. After buying a Metropass and paying her rent, she’s left with only $186 a month to meet her other expenses.

“With this TTC hike, I will not have a social life,” she said.

“Some seniors walk for hours to save $1.85,” Helen Lui, of the Ontario Chinese Seniors Association, said in pitching the idea of a free seniors’ service one hour a day or one day a month that would permit people to schedule appointments.