Important Dates:
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Deadline to register for Budget Committee Deputations: Friday, January 19 @ 4:30pm by emailing [email protected]
- Budget Committee Public Meeting Dates (opportunity to speak to Councillors):
Monday, January 22nd @ City Hall (9:30am, 1:30pm, or 6pm start)
Monday, January 22nd @ Scarborough Civic Centre (1:30pm or 6pm start)
Tuesday, January 23rd @ North York Civic Centre (1:30pm or 6pm start)
Tuesday, January 23rd @ Etobicoke Civic Centre (1:30pm or 6pm start)
- Executive Committee Meets about RapidTO (opportunity to speak to Councillors):
Wednesday, January 30th @ 9:30am (City Hall or online)
- Rally for the federal government to step up for transit and climate
by February 1st, 2024
- City Council Votes on Final Budget
February 14th, 2024
Important links:
Summary of top issues and TTCriders demands:
1. Property taxes are a fair way to balance the City Budget: They protect TTC users from fare increases and service cuts.
- This year, the average homeowner will pay $27 more each month to chip in for important city services like the TTC.(1)
- Past City Council decisions shielded homeowners from bigger property tax increases by squeezing transit service and raising fares. As a result, TTC fares have risen faster than the rate of inflation for decades.(2)
- To balance last year’s budget, former Mayor John Tory made cuts to TTC service and increased fares.(3)
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TTCriders has been asking City Councillors for many years to increase property taxes to pay for good city services.(4)
- Toronto’s new Mayor Olivia Chow has raised taxes to protect and improve services and freeze TTC fares.(5)
- There is still a $250 million budget shortfall that the federal government is being asked to fill.
2. Scarborough busway construction must be funded in the 2024 City Budget.
- Scarborough transit riders have been taking replacement buses since the Scarborough RT derailed on July 24, 2023. The Scarborough Subway Extension will not open until 2030 at the very earliest, and riders in Scarborough need an interim replacement option.
- Time is running out: If funding to build a Scarborough busway is not allocated in the 2024 Budget, we could lose another year with no construction.
- Every day that the busway is not built, transit riders lose at least 20 minutes each day stuck in traffic. Transit riders cannot afford to waste away another year while elected officials argue about who should pay for this critical infrastructure.
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The TTC’s 2024 Capital Budget lists the Scarborough busway as an unfunded capital need.(6)
- Update: A new TTC report reveals that the busway construction is already over 1 year behind. This is unacceptable! Originally, the busway was supposed to be complete by the end of 2025. Now the latest report says that construction will start in 2025!
- Construction should have started as soon as the Scarborough RT was planned to go out of service (November 2023). The TTC adopted the plan for a busway in April 2022.
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That's why we are calling on City Council to speed up and fund the busway in the 2024 budget.
- The TTC has spent the $3.9 million needed to do design work and is asking the province for reimbursement - they should take the same approach with any construction work, design work, or expropriations needed, so that there are no delays.
3. Bring back more TTC service: Service is being planned for “standing room only,” which impacts accessibility.
- Subway service is planned to increase just 1%: from 82% of pre-pandemic service levels to 83% of pre-pandemic levels in Spring 2024.
- Streetcar service is planned to increase just 2%: from 84% of pre-pandemic service levels to 86% of pre-pandemic levels in Fall 2024.
- The good news is that bus service will be back to 100% in Fall 2024! However, traffic congestion could eat up much of the service increase. The TTC says that bus service is increasing “to accommodate construction and traffic congestion”;
- If vehicles are in service longer because of traffic congestion, then an increase in service hours may not result in more frequent service. During the Budget Committee meeting on January 17, TTC staff said that 1% of service is used to adjust schedules for congestion.
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Today, service is being planned for standing room only at all times of day.(7) This means there is less room on the bus in the middle of the day for mobility devices, strollers, and grocery carts, affects people with disabilities, women, and shift workers.
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This is a big problem for seniors and people with disabilities users because the TTC is asking some Wheel-Trans users to travel during “off-peak” hours under the Family of Services plan. City Councillors on the TTC Board will make a decision in 2024 about whether to make the “Family of Services” mandatory.
4. Protect the TTC Fair Pass discount and expand affordability
- The 2024 City Budget proposes a TTC fare freeze but does not make transit more affordable.
- The Fair Pass is a transit discount for TTC single fares ($2.10) and monthly passes ($123.25).
- The program was approved by City Council in 2016. The first two phases have been funded, for people receiving OW and ODSP and people receiving Child Care Fee Subsidy and housing supports who meet the income cutoff of the Low-Income Measure plus 15% ($31,455 for a single person).
- The final phase of the program was designed to cover all residents who earn the Low-Income Measure plus 15% ($31,455 for a single person).
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In 2023, $2 million was allocated to give Fair Pass to more people. But because this funding was not enough to fully expand the program to all residents, in July 2023, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Office announced that eligibility for all Fair Pass users had changed. Now, only people earning 75% of the Low-Income Measure ($20,514 for a single person) can apply to get a Fair Pass discount.(8)
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Fair Pass renewals were paused during the pandemic. If renewals re-start, some people who currently get the Fair Pass discount could lose their access (for example, if they make $22,000 as a single person).
5. Provide enough funding to expand bus and streetcar lanes
- The Transportation Services Budget allocates $1.9 million in 2024 and $6.6 million in 2025 for capital funding for the Surface Transit Network Plan.(9)
- To compare: Eglinton East-Kingston-Morningside bus lanes cost $4 million.(10)
- TTCriders is asking: Is the proposed capital allocation in the Transportation Services budget enough to implement a bold plan for bus and streetcar lanes in 2024 and beyond?
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Update: On January 17, 2024, Transportation Services staff said during a Budget Committee meeting(11) that there is enough funding for 2-3 bus lanes, but it was not clear whether these lanes would all be implemented in 2024, or in future years.
- You can also speak up for expanding bus and streetcar lanes on January 30, 2024 at the Executive Committee when they debate the RapidTO plan.
6. Take a care-based approach to safety
- The “New Deal” funding from the province of Ontario “is conditional on the city establishing a new Transit Rider Safety Commitment that includes the increased presence of police or safety officers on and near transit, the continued expansion of transit rider cellular and data service across the TTC network, and enhanced emergency reporting options and response timelines for riders.”(12)
- TTCriders believes that every dollar of provincial transit funding should be used for transit service, and the TTC should take a care-based approach by hiring supportive frontline staff, rather than police, to create a welcoming TTC for all.
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Update: During the Budget Committee meeting on January 17, 2024, staff confirmed that the TTC budget’s investments in frontline staff, such Streets to Homes workers, meet the conditions that the province hasoutlined for transit safety.
7. The federal government needs to step up to fund transit and climate, including new trains on Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth subway)
- The federal government should speed up the Permanent Public Transit Fund and let cities use it for their transit operating budgets, to increase service and make transit more affordable.
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Subway trains on Line 2 are reaching the end of their life. Without federal funding for new trains, TTC staff are warning(13) that service will become more crowded and less reliable: more malfunctions, more unreliable service and shuttle buses.
- Toronto and Ontario have chipped in their part to fund the $3.2 billion cost of new subway trains. Now the federal government needs to step up.
- The TTC needs additional new trains to solve overcrowding on Line 1 and Line 2, and for the Scarborough Subway Extension and Yonge North Subway Extension.
- The longer we wait to order, the more expensive the trains will get.
- If federal MPs do not chip in by early 2024, the cost to replace aging Line 2 subway trains will increase by at least $90 million, and the TTC will miss the chance to add sliding safety doors at the edge of subway platforms.
More info: TTC affordability (14)
Household Size
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Low-Income Measure After Tax (2021 figures)
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New “Phase 3A” income cut-off for Fair Pass (75% of LIM AT) - Implemented 2023
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Phase 3 Fair Pass proposed income cut-off (LIM AT + 15%) - Approved by City Council in 2016
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1 person
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$27,352
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$20,514
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$31,455
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2 persons
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$38,682
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$29,011
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$44,484
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More info: Planned TTC service levels in 2024
TTC SERVICE
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Mode
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Current service as percentage of pre-pandemic levels
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Spring 2024 service levels (proposed)
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Fall 2024 service levels (proposed)
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% change
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Streetcar
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84%
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84%
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86%
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+2%
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Bus
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98%
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99%
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100%
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+2%
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Rapid Transit (including subways)
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82%
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83%
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83%
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+1%
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Overall TTC Service
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95%
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96%
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97%
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+2%
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More info: TTC service standards
Vehicle type
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TTC’s Official Off-Peak Service Standard
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Off-Peak Service Standard Implemented in the 2023 TTC Operating Budget
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TTC’s Official Peak Service Standard
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|
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|
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Bus
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35 people
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45 people
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50 people
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Streetcar
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70 people
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90 people
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130 people
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Train
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500-540 people
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600-650 people
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1000-1100 people
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References:
1. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/bu/bgrd/backgroundfile-242095.pdf
2. If TTC fares had risen at the rate of inflation over the past 20 years ago, a TTC ride should cost $2.86 today (In 2004 a token cost $1.90, and a single PRESTO tap costs $3.30 today).
3. In the 2023 TTC Operating Budget, the 10-cent fare increase generated $16.1 million in additional revenue: https://cdn.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2023/January-9/1_2023_TTC_Conventional_and_Wheel_Trans_Operating_Budgets.pdf?rev=5c06653f451940a8afee40f909024422&hash=79F0465446BD0CDB06A89A0749FB4EBE
4. TTCriders is also asking Council to raise revenues for transit by approving a Commercial Parking Levy on big malls and commercial landlords (this decision will be made later this year). Read more: https://www.torontoenvironment.org/ttcriders_tea_support_new_funding_tools_for_transit_vital_services
5. The 2024 TTC Operating Budget acknowledged that the 10-cent fare increase implemented last year "had an undue hardship on those riders who depended on transit the most.” And, “No fare increase is recommended for 2024 in recognition of affordability challenges.”
6. https://cdn.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2023/Dec-20/6_TTCs_2024_2038_Capital_Investment_Plan_A_Review_of_Unfunded_Capital_Needs.pdf?rev=1ef4b6b519b34559b1487aea4808d176&hash=105C587A0F9F0D23A734FA925C37F91A
7. The 2023 TTC Budget made the following policy change to the TTC Service Standards without any staff reporting or specific TTC Board direction: “Increase the pre-COVID vehicle crowding standard at off-peak periods with capacity for each route and time period planned based on the busiest hour for 45 customers per bus, 90 customers per streetcar, and 600-650 customers per train on average.”
Link to 2023 budget: https://cdn.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2023/January-9/1_2023_TTC_Conventional_and_Wheel_Trans_Operating_Budgets.pdf?rev=db51b9782e8040c1a5d217c315352e48&hash=89B4DD695ED03900BF1EF6ADB70DAEAB
Link to TTC Service Standards https://cdn.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/About-the-TTC/Projects-Landing-Page/Transit-Planning/TTC_Service_Standards.pdf?rev=68bbae6d00ea415587f7ab089edd4577
Link to graphic explaining “crowding standard”: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnLT-TiN0a2/?img_index=3
8. https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/employment-social-support/support-for-people-in-financial-need/assistance-through-ontario-works/transit-discount/
9. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2020/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-148914.pdf
10. https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/transportation-projects/rapidto/rapidto-bus-lanes/eglinton-east-bus-lanes/
11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFoJg_t1A9M
12. https://news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounder/1003887/terms-of-the-new-deal-between-ontario-and-toronto
13. https://cdn.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2023/November-22/5_New_Subway_Train_Procurement_and_Implications_for_Line_2_Modernization_and_Future_Growth.pdf
14. LIM AT: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1110023201