

Chris Fox, CP24.com





The TTC board has voted in favour of a 10 cent increase on all non-cash fares.

The fare hike, which is expected to go into effect on April 1, will generate an additional $25.6 million in annual revenue that the TTC says is needed to partially offset a $96.4 million shortfall in 2019.

The board voted on the fare hike, included in its 2019 budget, on Thursday. The matter still needs to be approved by city council.

“This budget allows us to retain the important investments in public transit services Toronto council has approved over the past several years,” TTC chair Jaye Robinson said in a press release issued after the vote. “Increasing fares is always a last resort, but in order to protect those services, we need to strike a balance between what’s affordable to our customers and to the residents of Toronto.”

The TTC last increased fares in 2017 when the cost of tokens and Presto card taps also went up by 10 cents.

Speaking with CP24 on Thursday afternoon, Robinson said that she is “not a fan” of raising fares but understands that there are budgetary pressures that may make it necessary to do so.

“We have a number of deputants that came here today to express their views and I want to make sure we make an informed decision so I am going be listening,” she said. “I am not a fan of this concept but at the same time we have a gap in the budget that needs to be addressed.”

TTC staff have said that they are facing an addition $20.5 million in costs as a result of the two-hour transfer window introduced last year and another $13.5 million from the introduction of new express bus service on seven routes in 2018 and improvements in the frequency of service on dozens of existing other routes.

TTC staff has also indicated that it will need about $33 billion in capital expenditures to maintain its existing infrastructure over the next 15 years.

Fare increase debate comes amid technical issues

The debate over the fare increase on Thursday comes in the wake of a myriad of rush hour subway issues on Line 1 Thursday morning which resulted in significant delays for some commuters.

In an interview with CP24 during a break in the board meeting, TTC CEO Ricky Leary conceded that issues like the ones that occurred on Thursday do make it hard to sell a fare increase to riders but said that he still believes that they will understand the need.

“It is very difficult but I think our commuters very much understand the need for additional funding to address the state of good repair,” he said. “They understand those pressures and they know someone has to pay for them.”