TTC, GO Transit won’t be offering free rides on New Year’s Eve to discourage partying

Thestar.com
Dec. 10, 2020
Kevin Jiang

The TTC and Metrolinx are breaking from an annual tradition of offering free rides on New Year’s Eve in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

TTC buses and trains will not be offering free service on New Year’s Eve for the first time since 2013, TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said Wednesday.

“In discussions with our sponsor, Corby Spirit and Wine, and given current restrictions and closures, it was not responsible to encourage partying,” Green wrote in an email to the Star.

The free service, to discourage drinking and driving, was offered in partnership with a sponsor in previous years, beginning at 7 p.m. and ending at 7 p.m. on New Year’s Day. In 2018, more than 250,000 took advantage of the free ride, the TTC said at the time.

Regular service will continue.

Metrolinx spokesperson Matt Llewellyn also confirmed to the Star that it will not be offering free rides on GO Transit and UP Express on New Year’s Eve. In previous years, GO offered free service from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Jan. 1.

“Additionally, on New Year’s Eve, we will not be running extra late-night service on GO like we did in previous years and will run our regular weekday service,” Llewellyn said in an email.

Llewellyn also said GO transit will be running on a regular schedule except for Christmas and New Year’s Day, where it will run on a Sunday schedule.