Council approves TTC discounts for passengers on low incomes
Fair Pass program will start in 2018 and cut fares for poorer residents by up to 33 per cent.

thestar.com
By Ben Spurr
Dec. 14, 2016

City council has given the green light to a plan to slash transit fares for low-income TTC users.

Councillors approved the Fair Pass Program Wednesday evening in a vote of 30 to 4, as part of the city’s broader poverty reduction strategy.

The plan would be gradually phased in starting in 2018, and would provide discounts of 33 per cent on single adult fares and 21 per cent on adult Metropasses to eligible riders. At the fare levels approved by the TTC board for 2017, Fair Pass holders could take a single ride for $2, or buy a monthly pass for about $115.50.

The decision is a win for anti-poverty activists, who have been pushing for a fare equity plan since amalgamation.

In a speech to council, Councillor Joe Mihevc, who sits on the TTC board, called the low-income fair plan “a major victory for our community.”

He said he has heard from residents who have stories of “walking literally miles to save themselves three dollars because they couldn’t afford” the cost of transit.

Many impoverished residents forgo doctor’s appointments, job interviews, or taking their children to activities because they can’t afford the TTC, he said.

“If you are poor, you are geographically stuck, mostly near your home. So this is an absolute vital piece for us as a city,” said Mihevc, who represents Ward 21, St. Paul’s.

According to a city report on the Fair Pass program, the cost of a monthly TTC pass has risen 30 per cent since 2009, while minimum wage has increased 20 per cent. Parents earning minimum wage can spend up to 35 per cent of their income on TTC fares.

Councillor Stephen Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre) voted against the plan. He told council he couldn’t support it because of the cost, which would be close to $50 million a year when it’s fully phased in. He argued that those who would benefit from the program would only use transit a few times a month, and therefore the program wouldn’t provide “a good cost-benefit return.”

“This is tantamount to a handout. This is about distribution of wealth,” he said.

Mihevc successfully moved a motion asking Metrolinx “to advance back-office work” on the Presto fare card system to allow the city to accelerate the implementation of the pass program, which is contingent on Presto.

While there will be Presto readers across the TTC by the end of this year, the agency won’t stop accepting older fare media, such as tokens, until sometime in 2018.

Toronto residents who make less than 15 per cent above the low-income measure would qualify for the Fair Pass program. Recipients of Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program payments who already receive transportation supports wouldn’t be eligible, however.

The income cutoff for the program works out to combined earnings of $45,075 for adults in a two-parent, two-child household, $31,522 for a single-parent, one-child household, and $22,537 for a single adult.

Roughly 700,000 people would be eligible, but city staff estimate that fewer than 200,000 would register.

The first phase of the program would extend the discount to OW and ODSP clients in 2018, followed by residents who receive childcare or housing subsidies 2019.

The majority of eligible residents wouldn’t get the discount until 2020 and 2021, when the program would be extended to all other residents below the income cutoff.

A city report estimated that the program would cost $4.6 million in its first year, $12.5 million in its second year, and $48.2 million by 2021. Those numbers are based on 2016 fare levels however, and the cost would be higher under the new fares introduced in 2017.

The city would reimburse the TTC for revenue the transit agency loses as a result of the discounts.

TTC chair Councillor Josh Colle (Ward 15, Eglinton-Lawrence) said that, in order to fund the program, the city will have to look at whether it wants to continue giving TTC discounts to other groups, such as seniors and students. Concession fares for these groups are expected to cost $72 million this year.

“Forever, our concession has only ever been based on age,” Colle said. “And, while I understand that seniors vote and that seniors are vocal, they’re also some of the wealthiest people in our city. So it will trigger another discussion.”

Many Canadian cities, including Burlington, Calgary, Milton, Mississauga, and Waterloo, already offer low-income transit passes.

But Toronto’s program would be unique because it would offer discounts on single trips, not just on passes, city staff said.