Coming Soon to the TTC : the 'Un-fare Box'
Doug Ford’s Conservative Premiership has GO transfers next on the chopping block.
Written by: Emmy Carlos Rayman
For more than 270,000 commuters who rode the GO Train or GO bus every weekday in 2017, the introduction of the “Double Fare Discount” was a tremendous relief.
Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government lauded the initiative as a convenient way to “integrate the various transit systems of the Greater Toronto Area”. She was onto something, as customers were previously forced to pay two back to back full fares. This occurred when riding the green GO train then transferring to the Red Rockets. But it also reared its ugly head at the city limits when transferring from Mississauga transit (MiWay) or York Region Transit (YRT). Those riders too, would be forced to dig deeper into their wallets for their daily commutes.
Now fast forward three years. Ridership on the TTC hits record highs making it the third most heavily used transit system in North America. For work, school, and leisure, any person with a Presto Fare card can board a GO Train (one tap), chug into Union Station and breeze through the fare gates onto the subway for only $1.50 (second tap), decreasing the cost for riders by 50 per cent.
Exclusively for Presto Card users, it indeed integrated the two systems and encouraged the sales of the cards. The response was overwhelmingly positive. The provincially funded subsidy had exceeded its original contribution of $18.4 million by $2.6 million and $6.7 million in 2018 and 2019, respectively and remains popular to the present day.
New Government, New TTC
With Wynne booted from Queen’s Park during the 2018 provincial elections, and Doug Ford claiming to “make vast changes in the provincial budget”, it was only a matter of time.
That time draws near, as soon as March 31, 2020 may be the final day customers can take advantage of this convenient program, as the Conservative government has declined to renew the Co-fare subsidy with the TTC and Metrolinx. Passengers will be stripped of their 50% savings, because Mr. Ford apparently, sees the subsidy as a burden to the province and taxpayers.
It makes my blood boil, for a bureaucrat who likely never once rode the bus to work to simply yank away a program that benefited tens of thousands! At a potential savings of a mere $20 million (a drop in the ocean of the provinces treasury) it’s the working-class rider who will have to carry the weight.
Real Savings
Let’s do the simple arithmetic to estimate the savings which the Co-fare program offered GTA commuters.
For example, a person boards the Go Train in West Burlington at the Aldershot Station, and disembarks at Union Station, so their Presto Card will be debited for $11.06. Then they transfer to TTC Line 1 to complete their journey to work at Yorkville near Bloor/Yonge Subway station – that’s an additional 1.50. One way the person is paying $12.56 or $25.12 daily. About $125.60 weekly with the discount saving them $15 a week or $60 a month. Mr. Ford never realised he is not the only one with a budget to set.
Ford has gained an anti-transit reputation since he entered office in 2018. He has wreaked havoc on the relationship with the City of Toronto and the province. It made national headlines when Ford attempted to slash the size of the City Council to half invoking the “Notwithstanding Clause”, despite a court ruling to the contrary.
Soon after, he offered up his new “transit vision” for sale, which didn’t convince Torontonians. He proposed a $30 Billion rapid extension that would include the much needed “relief line” nicknamed the “Ontario Line”, two additional subway stations on the Bloor Danforth Extension to Scarborough, a “Yonge North” Extension of Line 1 to Richmond Hill, and the Crosstown LRT extension to Pearson Airport.
He also pressured the city to upload the civil management of the subways to the province, a move which drew the ire of Mayor John Tory and many city councillors. The transit vision was ultimately endorsed by the City with the caveat that the City retain subway operations.
Coming Full circle
Mr. Ford’s vision for a transit utopia, which he successfully pitched, would appear ambitious, even revolutionary. However, commuters have now come full circle with his decision to axe the GO-TTC transfer. The TTC despite it’s high ridership and fare revenue, it remains one of the only systems in North America that do not receive a regular government subsidy for its operations, putting increasing pressure on the agency to fund their services.
About 70% of its operation cost are covered from customer fares in a measurement called the “fare box recovery ratio”. The reaming 30% needs to be funded from the city, and ideally the province. A memo the past Liberals headed in their move to introduce the discount.
Mr. Ford’s actions run contrary to the very message environmental leaders have been warning the general public about the greenhouse gas effects and car dependent cities. His infamous brother, former city mayor Rob Ford and himself, often chanted “Subways, Subways, Subways!” at civic events but like many decisions in Ford’s premiership, he simply doesn’t practise what he preaches.
“Forcing commuters to dig deeper into their pockets for an additional $1.50 is going to hurt the bottom line for already squeezed people,” said NDP Transit Critic Jessica Bell. Furthermore, what Bell even failed to point out is the irony and disrespect the act of rescinding a taxpayer funded benefit from commuters, has. The TTC and GO are now taking steps backwards while commuters are quite literally sheepishly scurrying forward to their workplaces, schools, and leisure events.
In conclusion, as a daily commuter myself I’ve walked a mile in the shoes of those affected. I’m dreading the black event that will be March 31st where I may no longer be able to bridge the Lakeshore West Go Train to the red rocket for a thrifty $1.50.
If Metrolinx and the TTC don’t strike a deal to fund the subsidy this will be a daily reality for not only myself, for thousands of Torontonians. Look out, it’s coming to a bus, subway, or trolley near you, Doug Ford’s latest cost savings measure – the “Un-fare box”!