TTC riders will probably face a fare increase in the new year, says TTC chair Karen Stintz. But how much hasn’t been decided.

“The commission did pass a framework that keeps fares moderate and increases within inflation,” she said Wednesday.

Before it completes its budgeting, the TTC still has to decide whether to contract out some work to save money on operations, Stintz said. A budget report is expected to come before the transit commission later this month or next.

Last December, the Toronto Transit Commission approved a 10-cent fare increase on tokens (pro-rated on other fares) in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

A 10-cent increase this year that brought the price of a token to $2.60 generated an extra $30 million.

Transit officials have been considering how they can save money by contracting out some non-core work. They have already outsourced garbage collection and are now targeting overnight cleaning and fuelling of buses in two of the TTC’s seven divisions.

The 150 TTC workers who currently do those jobs, for about $27 an hour, would be absorbed into other areas.

Although it’s expected to be approved, outsourcing the work is likely to be the first big divisive issue at the Toronto Transit Commission since council voted to kick Mayor Rob Ford’s allies off the board earlier this year.

TTC commissioner Josh Colle said he’s still waiting for some numbers but is “leaning” toward outsourcing.

“At the end of the day, if we’re trying to hold the line on fares and trying to cut costs, you’ve got to look somewhere,” he said.

Colle favours regular, moderate fare increases over walloping riders with a painful hike in a single year.

“I think that hurts people more than incremental increases,” he said.

The TTC doesn’t need council approval to hike fares, Stintz said.

Most GTA transit systems increase fares annually. GO Transit hiked its fares 5 per cent in February, about 30 to 40 cents a trip for most riders.

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Contracting out unionized transit jobs doesn’t save the city money in the long run, said Councillor Maria Augimeri. Using lower-paid contract cleaners ultimately leaves the city on the hook for more subsidies.

“To subsidize child care and provide subsidized housing for people is much more financially onerous on the taxpayer than paying them a decent working wage,” said Augimeri, adding that the TTC should look at saving money on management salaries rather than reducing lower-paid jobs.

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