TTC riders resist fare increase, but welcome service boost
Greetings!
With the election of the Tory mayoralty campaign, and the rather ominous vote for Ford in the inner suburban areas, a number of us thought it would be an opportune time for stock taking in the growing public transit movement in Toronto. The Free and Accessible Transit Campaign of the Greater Toronto Workers’ Assembly and TTCriders are jointly organizing a public forum on these issues, inviting partners in the public transit movement and people generally interested in fighting for better, more affordable and accessible public transit.
Thank you to the 100+ riders braved the extreme weather and joined us at City Hall on Monday to keep the good service improvements and reject the $93 a year fare hike.
We held a rally outside City Hall at 9.30am just below John Tory's offices. Yes, he noticed us. Thanks to our awesome speakers, including: Bill Reno for representing the transit workers; Herman Rosenfeld from TTCriders; Brenda Thompson from Scarborough Transit Action, and Mike Xie from the Toronto Chinese Seniors Association.
Read the article in the Globe and Mail.
By Oliver Moore and Elizabeth Church
Toronto Mayor John Tory is abandoning his campaign pledge to freeze transit fares, pushing the price of a monthly pass above $140 as riders are asked to shoulder about half the cost of a long list of service improvements.
METRO
January 19, 2015 Updated : January 19, 2015 | 5:18 pm
By Luke Simcoe
Torstar News ServiceMayor John Tory speaks to media with TTC Chair Josh Colle (L) and TTC CEO Andy Byford, during a media event at Joyce Public School in North York, January 19, 2015. For his efforts to improve transit service in Toronto, TTC CEO Andy Byford has been crowned this year’s transit champion by the TTCRiders advocacy group.
“We launched these awards because we want to recognize the leaders in our city who have worked tirelessly to ensure service is improved and transit becomes more affordable,” said TTCRiders chair Brenda Thompson.
A recent report by Ontario Auditor General, Bonnie Lysyk proves that using public-private-partnerships to build infrastructure is too costly and we should go back to using the public sector.
According to Ms. Lysyk, the 74 infrastructure projects built by the Wynne government using Alternate Financing and Procurement (public-private-partnership) will cost us an additional $8B.
UNIVERSAL MOBILITY
Public transit is a great equalizer. Transit riders in Scarborough need an affordable, convenient, fast, accessible, publicly owned, operated and maintained rapid transit network.
On December 11, the Province and Metrolinx approved a very expensive fare structure for Toronto's new train, which will run from Union Station to Pearson Airport and back 400 times a day.
But you and I won't be on that train, and here's why.
On December 4, nearly 100 of our supporters celebrated our year at TTCriders end of year fundraiser. Thank you for making this night fantastic for all of us. Advocacy organizations like ours depend upon your donations and time. Thank you for contributing to make us bigger and better in 2015.