Transit advocates call for two-hour transfers on TTC
The agency’s ridership growth strategy is expected to include the proposal, but the report has been delayed by more than a year.

Thestar.com
Ben Spurr
Nov. 13, 2017

A group of advocates is criticizing the TTC for delaying the release of the transit agency’s ridership growth strategy by more than a year.

At a press conference at city hall before a meeting of the TTC board on Monday, the TTCriders advocacy group condemned the agency for postponing the plan’s publication until February, which is too late to be considered as part of the 2018 budget process.

Leaders for the group, who were joined by representatives of residents’ and business associations, called on the TTC to move ahead with a proposal expected to be a key part of the strategy to attract more riders: switching to a time-based transfer system.

Time-based transfers would allow riders to make an unlimited number of TTC trips within a two-hour window. Under existing rules, riders aren’t allowed “hop on, hop off” privileges, and must pay a second fare unless they’re making a one-way, continuous trip.

TTCriders spokesperson Jessica Bell predicted timed transfers would not only be beneficial to people who rely on transit, but would also help draw more passengers to the TTC, which is headed for a decline in ridership this year after 13 years of continuous growth.

“Two-hour fare transfers are good for riders, they’re good for the TTC, and they're good for Toronto. There is no good reason why the TTC commission should delay approving two-hour fare transfers, and force TTC riders and Toronto to wait another year for such a rider-friendly initiative,” she said.

John Kiru, executive director of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, said timed transfers would be a boon for small businesses because they would make it easier for riders to stop at several shops during a single trip. He said the measure had been a success when it was temporarily enacted on the St. Clair streetcar route more than a decade ago.

“We truly see this as an opportunity at a time when small business is being challenged” by threats like online shopping and big box retail, Kiru said.