Unions, homeowners, TTC riders: Who wins, who loses with Olivia Chow’s new spending plans?
Ben Spurr and Ben Cohen of the Toronto Star report on the 2025 City Budget. TTC riders are considered winners due to the investments being made in transit!
EMAIL ZAP: Stop policing transit - Fund the TTC
Current TTC users are more likely to be lower income, racialized, and disabled. 43% of current riders say that going to the grocery store is their most important transit trip. Yet the City of Toronto might cut service by 50% due to lower ridership and less revenue from TTC fares during COVID-19.
But fare inspectors won’t bring back lost revenue. The real TTC fund evaders are Premier Ford and Prime Minister Trudeau, who have so far refused to provide emergency and long-term transit funding.
Scroll down for more information & for ways that you can take action to defund the police in Toronto.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On July 2nd, the TTC plans for fare inspectors to "resume proof of payment inspections, educating and issuing warnings to riders who haven’t paid their fare. By August, the full range of inspection and enforcement activities will resume and inspectors will apply discretion while considering the diverse needs of all riders including those who unable to pay. Responses will include education and tickets. A zero-tolerance (no warning) approach will still remain for fraudulent concession card use (e.g. Child or Youth PRESTO card). Inspection teams have been outfitted with PPE.”The TTC is planning to hire more fare enforcement staff this year; this was delayed because of COVID-19, but they plan to move forward in 2020 with hiring 50 new staff at a cost of $3.2 million. $3.2 million could help purchase masks or face coverings for transit riders, and PPE for TTC workers.
Masks and face coverings
Masks or face coverings (e.g. a scarf, fabric) will become mandatory on the TTC on July 2nd. Exceptions will be made for children under 2, and people with disabilities or medical conditions that prevent masks from being worn. The TTC will distribute 1 million free masks, focused on neighbourhood improvement areas.
Masks and face coverings are an important way to keep each other safe on transit -- the TTC must make it easy to wear a mask or face covering by distributing them and having clear information in many languages about how to wear them. TTC officials and Mayor John Tory have said that they plan to focus on an advertising campaign, not an enforcement crack down -- but technically fare inspectors and enforcement officers will be able to ticket people for not wearing mask or face covering (the fine amount would be $235 under By-Law No. 1, Section 3.13 (a), “Failure to comply with posted sign").
TTC CEO Rick Leary has publicly stated that "no one will be refused a ride," and acknowledged that some people have invisible disabilities. But ACAT representative Mazin Aribi has raised concerns that the term "mandatory" will result in conflicts and harassment of people with disabilities and others who cannot put on a mask or afford to purchase one.
Who is impacted by fare inspection?
Homeless people have reported being harassed by fare enforcement and inspection staff for many years. TTC fare enforcement officers were charged in 2013 for writing hundreds of fake tickets to homeless people.
The Toronto Star reported that the TTC had been carding riders, collecting 40,000 records on transit riders who were not charged with an offence between 2008-2018. The Star’s analysis found that 19.3% of recorded interactions were with Black people — but Black residents make up just 10.7% of Toronto transit users. Black people and people of colour face harsher fare evasion penalties, according to the US-based Transit Center.
TTC fare inspectors and enforcement officers have sometimes engaged with Toronto Police Services and School Resource Officers to target young people at the return of the school year. The “Student Education Ridership Focus,” or Project “S.E.R.F.,” appears to have begun in 2014 and is an “annual, intelligence led initiative aimed at education, order maintenance and fare compliance at TTC surface stops and subway stations.” (Note: School Resource Officers no longer exist in the Toronto District School Board since 2017 thanks to organizing by groups such as Education Not Incarceration.)
TTC underfunding and service cuts
The TTC is the least-subsidized major transit system in the US and Canada. Rider fares pay for 67% of the TTC's (conventional) operating budget.
The TTC has lost hundreds of millions during COVID-19 due to lower ridership, losing approximately $92 million per month during the pandemic. This massive funding shortfall cannot be recovered by fare inspectors; it must come from other levels of government.
Transit agencies across Ontario and Canada are in the same boat, and are asking for emergency funding from federal and provincial governments. To date, zero emergency or long term operating funding has been dedicated by Primer Minister Trudeau or Premier Ford.
The TTC estimates that if emergency funding does not arrive by Labour Day, they would need to cut service by 50% and shut down the Scarborough RT and Sheppard subway to continue operating. Sign up to volunteer here to get involved in our campaign and phone banking for emergency transit funding.
$425 tickets
Riders can be fined up to $425 for not paying their TTC fare. But the average parking ticket issue in Toronto in 2018 was only $50. TTC fines are higher than other Canadian cities; nearly triple the fine amount in Vancouver and Ottawa.
TTC fines do not get collected by the TTC. Most of the fine goes to the City of Toronto, and some is collected by the provincial government for a crime victims fund. The TTC will be reviewing By-law No. 1, which sets the ticket amount for fare evasion, later this year.
Fare inspectors won’t fix Presto problems
Transit users are unfairly punished for Presto glitches and the lack of access to Presto products. Some suburban areas of the city do not have Shoppers Drug Marts or subway stations within walking distance. But Metrolinx signed an exclusive distribution agreement for Presto tickets and cards with Shoppers Drug Marts.
Tokens and paper tickets are being phased out, but paper Presto tickets and Presto cards have additional costs, for both individuals and organizations (Presto single-use tickets are only available for the price of a cash fare). Presto is a public-private partnership between Accenture and provincial agency Metrolinx, and 5.25% of every TTC fare is transferred to Presto. By 2021, 905 transit agencies could see 9% of every fare be transferred to Presto.
Fare inspectors won’t fix unaffordable transit
Toronto has one of the most expensive monthly passes in North America. Even Toronto’s low income monthly discount pass ($123.25) is higher than most regular monthly passes in Canada. Other cities in Canada provide deeper discounts: Hamilton and York Region are already providing a 50% cost low income pass.
The low income transit discount is an important first step that should continue to be expanded. But 27% of eligible Fair Pass users surveyed reported that they cannot afford to use it.
The Fair Pass was approved in December 2016 and is being implemented in phases. Currently, eligible people who receive Ontario Works, Ontario Disability Support Program, or a Toronto Child Care Fee Subsidy can apply to pay $2.10 for a single TTC ride or $123.25 for a monthly TTC pass. Learn more about the program and how to apply here.
The final phase of the transit discount is meant to be funded in the 2021 City Budget; the final phase of the program has been estimated to cost at least $40 million. People who earn approximately 29,000 before tax (the Low-Income Measure plus 15%) will be eligible. Read more about the Fair Pass program here and please sign up to volunteer to get involved.
MORE ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:
Use this easy email tool to automatically email your Councillor and Mayor Tory about defunding the Toronto police: https://cp-ep.org/defundpoliceJoin a phone zap before the Toronto City Council meeting on June 29:
🔊THIS IS HOW WE DOOOO IT🎶🎵
— SURJ Toronto - Defund Toronto Police (@SURJto) June 25, 2020
Great turnout last night to flood councillors’ phone lines and inboxes with demands to DEFUND the police.
We will not be placated with tiny cuts or body cameras.
Join us Fri @ noon, including ASL-English interpretation!#DefundThePolice #TOPoli pic.twitter.com/yCcKGTdDWP
Attend the webinar on July 2nd: "Staying Safe on Public Transit"
Support the Afro-Indigenous Rising Collective, which is currently occupying Nathan Phillips Square.
Join the Justice for Ejaz rally on June 27th:
Saturday at 4pm in front of Peel Regional Police HQ
— NCCM (@nccm) June 26, 2020
Justice for Ejaz Choudry Rally
The family of Ejaz Choudry and supporters will be holding a rally on SATURDAY to demand justice for Ejaz.
It's time to take action.#JusticeForEjaz pic.twitter.com/pSIImpZbo3
Read and support Black Lives Matter - Toronto demands:
Demands:
— Black Lives Matter — Toronto (@BLM_TO) June 19, 2020
he Toronto Police Services (TPS) budget is over $1.1 billion dollars, which is more than public funding allotted to libraries, housing, shelters combined. We believe that Black communities, and all communities, deserve better. #BlackLivesMatter #DefundThePolice pic.twitter.com/zlZoQpnAZJ
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