Children 12 and under will ride the TTC free starting March 1. Just about everyone else will pay more to ride transit, according to a proposal from Mayor John Tory.

Under the plan, which still needs approval from the TTC board and city council, cash fares would remain at $3. The cost of a token would go up a dime, however, to $2.80. The money would help restore buses that were cut in 2012, reduce wait times and crowding, Tory said at an announcement at an elementary school near Keele St. and Lawrence Ave. Monday.

“I would not increase fares and not improve service, and I would not decrease service and increase fares, which is what my predecessor did,” he said.

Admitting he was wrong when he campaigned on a fare freeze, Tory said he has since made the “difficult choice” to break that promise, based on a better understanding of the state of the TTC.

“We have starved our transit system to the breaking point and we need to take action,” he said, standing with TTC chair Josh Colle and TTC CEO Andy Byford.

The proposed transit inprovements are worth about $95 million, according to the mayor. That includes $43 million in new fare revenue and a $38 million proposed increase in the city’s TTC operating subsidy, to $479 million this year. Also included, he said, is the capital cost of 50 new buses and temporary bus storage facilities. Details will be released in the city’s budget on Tuesday, he said.





Budget chief Councillor Gary Crawford said the proposed budget will include a property tax hike “below the rate of inflation,” while offering “historic service investments.”

He refused to be pinned down on the figure, but city staff are using an inflation rate of 2.6 per cent — the level for Toronto in November. The provincial rate for the same month was 2.4 per cent.

Waiving fares for children will cost the TTC about $7 million in revenue, but “will provide real relief for families,” said Tory.

The promised improvements could be launched almost immediately in the off-peak hours, when buses are available. Rush-hour boosts will have to wait until the end of the year, when new vehicles arrive.

The slate of service improvements was outlined to the TTC board in August. It includes adding 12 routes to the 22-route Blue Night Network; four new express bus routes, mostly in the suburbs; 10-minute or better bus and streetcar service six days a week, and all-door boarding on all streetcars.

Subway riders will get an extra two rush-hour trains on the Yonge-University and Bloor-Danforth lines, and there will be more management of surface routes to prevent bunching and short-turns.

“We will be looking to implement as many improvements as we can with this additional funding, as early as we can,” said Byford, who promised details on additional routes and service in February.

Tory’s predecessor, Councillor Rob Ford, criticized the new mayor for “not being honest with the taxpayers.”

“You know, putting kids on for free — we’d love to put people on for free, but we can’t afford it. If this was a private company running it, you know, private companies can do what they want. Taxpayers are paying for the TTC,” he said.

Councillor Shelley Carroll, who sits on the TTC board, praised Tory for admitting the transit situation needs to be addressed immediately.

“This system came pretty close to being broken the last few years by flat-lining it and, in fact, cutting the operating subsidy. We know we need to grow the operating budget as the riders keep materializing,” she said.

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Carroll said she would be less supportive if the city budget wasn’t also asking for a property tax increase and an inflationary increase in some recreation and user fees from non-transit-riding residents.

Left-wing councillors Joe Mihevc and Maria Augimeri said they will probably support the fare hike because it comes with better service. But both said the lack of provincial funds for operating costs remains at the heart of the TTC’s problem.

Motorists still get off easier than transit riders, said Augimeri. “We use the roads freely without thinking of the billions that it costs to repave them and restructure them. It’s an unequal partnership in Toronto,” she said.

“There is no way around bringing in fare increases in the TTC, unless you’re prepared to make deeper and deeper service cuts over the years. So this had to happen,” said Councillor Gord Perks.

Perks said the $7 million that the TTC will forfeit in children’s fares is equivalent to 50 buses. “I would have hung on to the money and banked it so we could provide better service next year instead of a goodie for kids,” he said.

With files from Jennifer Pagliaro and David Rider

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