Ward 13: Toronto Centre

How have your Toronto Centre City Council candidates promised to improve transit? 

TTCriders sent all City Council candidates a 28-question survey about transit issues. Scroll down to read their responses and pledge to vote on October 24! Your City Councillor makes decisions about how much the TTC costs, how often the bus comes, and more. Add your name to show candidates that transit riders need change - and that you will vote.

Pledge to vote for transit

ISSUE: Protecting TTC Service and Fixing the Transit Funding Model

1. If the TTC faces continued budget shortfalls due to slow ridership recovery, will you oppose cuts to transit service, the deferral of capital projects, and increases to fares?

2. If the TTC faces continued budget shortfalls due to slow ridership recovery, will you advocate to make up the revenue loss with City of Toronto revenue tools?

3. Will you be a strong champion for Toronto to the provincial and federal governments for their continued investment in TTC operating funding to protect transit service levels?

4. City of Toronto reports reveal that millions of TTC trips annually have shifted onto Uber and Lyft over the past several years. Will you support policies that help move people back onto public transit from private vehicles (personal or ride-hailing)? 

Pledge to vote for transit

ISSUE: Prioritizing Transit on Our Streets

5. Will you move quickly to implement 10 bus and streetcar priority corridors in the next term of Council as per the RapidTO plan? 

6. Will you support other priority measures that will improve TTC service and make RapidTO routes more effective, like queue jump lanes for buses and all-door boarding? 

7. Will you support traffic signal priority for buses, streetcars, and rapid transit projects like the Finch West LRT and Eglinton Crosstown LRT? 

Pledge to vote for transit

ISSUE: Doubling TTC Service to Increase Ridership

8. Will you expand off-peak and nighttime service to better serve shift workers, women, and low-income riders who depend on transit most? 

9. Will you expand the 10-minutes-or-better network to more routes to be within walking distance of every person who lives in Toronto? 

Pledge to vote for transit

ISSUE: Accessible Transit

10. Will you champion more funding from the provincial government to expand Wheel-Trans service and protect door-to-door Wheel-Trans service for those who need it? 

11. Will you support funding for platform edge doors in subway stations in the next Council term? 

12. As tokens are replaced by PRESTO single-fare tickets and cards, will you be a champion to Metrolinx and the provincial government to ensure continued access to transit for individuals marginalized by poverty, and drop-in agencies continue to have access? 

This includes ensuring access to bulk ordering for drop-ins and community organizations that distribute TTC tickets, expanding locations to buy and reload PRESTO beyond Shoppers Drug Marts (the 3rd party distribution network).

Pledge to vote for transit

ISSUE: Affordable Transit

13. Will you immediately fund the 3rd phase of the Fair Pass low income transit discount program in the 2023 municipal budget? 

14. Will you begin implementing fare free public transit, starting with people who receive social assistance, high school students, and on extreme weather alert days? 

In January 2022, staff told Councillors that while the Fair Pass program "is important and helpful, it's still very high for low income folks to be able to access," and reported that staff are considering creating a 4th phase that would deepen the discount.

Expanding free TTC to high school students can create transit users for life and reduce the fare policing youth experience. A Kingston, Ontario program to provide free transit passes to high school students, along with an on-bus orientation session to teach students how to ride the bus, has increased overall transit ridership by 73% since 2012. 

Some drop-ins have TTC tokens or tickets available on extreme weather alert days, but these are of little use to individuals who are trying to make their way to a shelter or drop-in.

15. The TTC Board has approved fare capping in principle. Will you support funding for fare capping? 

16. Will you champion provincial funding for fair fare integration so that all riders travelling within Toronto  pay a single flat fare between TTC, GO, and Union Pearson Express and enjoy a free transfer across municipal boundaries? 

17. Will you oppose fare-by-distance within Toronto or other integration models that would deepen inequality? 

Pledge to vote for transit

ISSUE: Scarborough RT Closure

18. Will you support bus-only lanes northbound on Kennedy and southbound on Midland to accommodate the 70 additional buses per hour that will travel on these routes during peak periods to replace the RT service when it closes? 

19. Will you support transforming the decommissioned RT rail corridor into a bus-only corridor when the Scarborough RT closes in 2023? 

Pledge to vote for transit

ISSUE: Safety and Dignity for All Riders

20. Will you work with us to improve winter and pedestrian safety at bus, streetcar, and Wheel-Trans stops?

This involves snow and ice clearing to ensure all riders can safely board their bus or streetcar during the winter, expanding signalized mid-block crossings, and improving amenities at stops. 

21. Will you work with us to advance our vision for transit safety that does not expand policing?

This involves developing a strategy to end racism and gender-based violence and harassment on transit, advocating to end fare enforcement and redirecting resources into supportive staff roles, and more. 

22. Will you work with us to improve riders’ everyday experience navigating the TTC?

This involves more supportive staff in subway stations, wifi on all vehicles, improving subway shutdown plans (wayfinding and communication with riders, road priority for shuttle buses), and introducing an accessible wayfinding standard (using graphics, Braille, visual and audio announcements, and translating construction and emergency notices into languages other than English). 

Pledge to vote for transit

ISSUE: Expanding Public Transit

23. Will you champion the expansion of Scarborough’s rapid transit network, including the Eglinton East LRT from Kennedy Station to Malvern, connecting to Sheppard East and McCowan? 

24. Will you champion funding for the Waterfront LRT and its westward expansion into South Etobicoke? 

Pledge to vote for transit

ISSUE: Keeping Transit Public

25. Will you support strong Community Benefits Agreements for new rapid transit projects in Toronto? 

26. Will you support rapid public transit expansion that is publicly owned, operated and maintained? 

27. Will you be a strong voice to Metrolinx and the provincial government to stand up for the interests of TTC users and Toronto residents? 

28. Will you oppose contracting out TTC jobs and services?