TTC won't subsidize regional fare integration: board

TTC chair Josh Colle says Toronto can’t lose money to join a region-wide fare system. It wouldn’t be fair to TTC riders.

Thestar.com
Sept. 29, 2015
By Tess Kalinowski

The TTC supports the idea of a region-wide transit fare system, but its board has put the province on notice that Toronto can’t subsidize the trips of 905-area riders.

The board passed a motion Monday confirming that the TTC will not take on the financial burden of any fare integration system that Metrolinx proposes.

Councillor Josh Colle, who chairs the TTC, said he fears the TTC might have to raise its fares or assume costs that are paid by another agency under an integrated fare system.

“We need to talk about nuts and bolts of fare integration ... It can’t be at a cost the TTC has to bear that’s unfair to our riders or the city of Toronto,” he said.

The TTC and Metrolinx boards will be holding a joint meeting to discuss fare integration, he said. But so far, Colle said he doesn’t know the financial implications for the TTC or its riders.

“I don’t understand when you see how some agencies are subsidized, how do the finances work out on that?” he said.

York Region, for example, offers a $4.34 per rider subsidy for its transit service and Durham Region subsidizes transit with $4.06 per ride. But the TTC is only subsidized 89 cents per rider.

Toronto transit riders pay the largest share of operating funds in North America.

About 80 per cent of transit trips in the Toronto area include the TTC.

The TTC is actually involved in three separate fare discussions. It is looking at revising its own fare structure when Presto rolls out across the system at the end of next year, it is working with the city on a potential low-income rider fare and it is part of the Metrolinx fare integration study.

There’s a risk to losing money within its own fare structure and within a region-wide system. The TTC has to make sure when it revises its own fare policies that it comes up with a revenue neutral solution.

“We need to be cautious that whatever is proposed by Metrolinx for regional integration doesn’t load some of the costs onto the TTC,” said Deputy CEO Chris Upfold who is leading the fare discussions.

“If they say you don’t have to pay a double fare when you cross Steeles Ave., who loses the fare? Somebody is losing a fare,” he said.

Metrolinx is expected to make recommendations on fare integration in the spring.