TTC board approves proposed budget that includes 10-cent fare hike, 50 new fare enforcement officers
Thestar.com
December 17, 2019
Ben Spurr
The TTC’s board has approved a proposed budget that would see the agency increase fares by 10 cents next year, and deploy dozens of additional enforcement officers to crack down on fare evasion.
At a board meeting to debate the budget Monday morning, TTC CEO Rick Leary acknowledged customers won’t welcome another fare hike. Next year’s increase would be the ninth riders have been hit with since 2009.
“I know that fare increases are never popular, because I do hear it from our customers,” Leary said.
But he said the TTC has an obligation “to be responsible stewards of both the public’s money and the revenue that we collect from our customers.”
He pledged the financial plan, which would increase the TTC’s budget by about $84 million to about $2.14 billion, would preserve transit improvements made in recent years, including the two-hour transfer, kids ride free program, and capacity enhancements on bus and streetcar routes.
Most of the $84-million increase would go to rising costs of the existing system, while just $9.5 million is for new and enhanced services.
The fare increase, which would go into effect March 1, wouldn’t apply to adult cash fare, which would stay at $3.25.
The cost of adult fares on Presto fare cards would rise to $3.20, while monthly passes would jump by $4.85 to $156.
Fares for seniors and youth would increase 10 cents, while riders signed up for the city’s low-income transit discount plan would pay an additional five cents on single rides.
The fare hike is expected to raise $31.4 million for the TTC next year. The city would increase its subsidy to the transit agency by a smaller amount, or $26.9 million, to almost $790 million.
As in past years, fare revenue accounts for about two-thirds of the total TTC operating budget, with the city subsidy making up the rest.
The proposed budget, which will go to council in February for approval, also includes spending $3.2 million to hire 50 additional fare enforcement officers, which would bring the total complement to 123.
The TTC says the extra officers will help the agency recoup an additional $7 million in fare revenue, after accounting for the cost of the new hires.
A February auditor general report found the TTC lost $60 million to fare evasion last year.
But increasing enforcement activity has stirred controversy, particularly in light of a February 2018 incident in which fare inspectors violently pinned a Black teen to the ground at a streetcar stop, and a Star investigation that raised concerns Black riders are ticketed in disproportionately high numbers.
Walied Khogali, a member of the public who spoke at the board, warned that making transit more expensive would represent “an increase in the cost of living” for residents who depend on the TTC, and hiring more fare inspectors could lead to “the criminalization of racial minorities.”
Khogali was ejected from the meeting after criticizing the TTC for releasing the budget proposal late on Friday afternoon, giving members of the public little time to examine the documents and sign up to speak to the board Monday morning.
“I am actually shocked that there was no opportunity for folks in our community to be consulted,” said Khogali, who ran unsuccessfully for city councillor in 2018. He described the TTC budget process as a “charade” and “bulls---.”
After those remarks, his exchange with board members became heated. Vice-chair Alan Heisey, who was filling in for board chair Jaye Robinson while she is undergoing cancer treatment, told him to leave the meeting and asked for security to be called. Khogali left without incident.
Deputy Mayor and TTC board member Denzil Minnan-Wong defended the fare policies, arguing the transit agency had no choice but to raise the cost of rides and increase enforcement because it’s losing too much money to evasion.
“For those people that are following the rules and paying their fares, they’re paying 10 cents more a fare because of all the cheaters,” he said.
“We have to stop this hemorrhaging of money.”
In order to balance its budget next year the TTC is counting on receiving a significant amount of money from Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency.
The TTC says in 2020 it will have to spend $19.4 million to operate incremental bus service caused by Metrolinx’s construction of the Eglinton and Finch LRTs, and asserts Metrolinx is “contractually obligated” to repay the agency for those costs.
Whether Metrolinx will do so is not clear. The TTC’s acting chief financial officer Josie La Vita told the board the agency has invoiced Metrolinx for more than $60 million in bus service costs since 2013, but the provincial agency stopped making payments in March 2017 after providing only $14.8 million.
Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said in a statement that “Metrolinx and the TTC co-operate fully with each other” but “claims are only paid if valid.”
“Ultimately, commercial differences are settled through appropriate channels while always ensuring that customers and service are not impacted.”
On the capital side of the budget, the cost of infrastructure work required on the TTC over the next 15 years has grown to $36.1 billion, up from a January estimate of about $33 billion.
The increase is mostly a result of revised cost estimates for the projects, which include the purchase of new vehicles, subway track and signal upgrades, and the expansion of Bloor-Yonge station. Of the required work, $26.1 billion is not funded.
Last week the TTC board heard the agency would need to place an order for new streetcars from Bombardier almost immediately in order to start receiving them by 2022 when they’ll be required to meet ridership demand.
The 60 additional vehicles, which are estimated to cost about $420 million, are currently not funded in the budget. But the board approved a motion submitted by Coun. Brad Bradford on behalf of the board chair, asking TTC staff to report back in January with “an accelerated vehicle procurement plan.”
The plan could include paying for new vehicles by tapping revenue from a property tax increase proposed by Mayor John Tory. The tax hike is expected to be approved by council this week, and would raise about $6.6 billion for transit and housing.
Bradford said it would be up to the TTC to determine whether new streetcars are the first priority of any new vehicle purchase. Leary said while new streetcars are required, the agency also needs to buy new subways to meet anticipated ridership growth on Line 1.
TTC budget by the numbers
$2.14 billion: TTC’s proposed 2020 operating budget
$1.99 billion: operating budget for the TTC’s “conventional” system
$156.5 million: operating budget for Wheel-Trans paratransit system
533.5 million: projected TTC ridership in 2020, up from 2019 projection of 526.3 million
