TTC 2024 budget: More service, no fare increases

The transit agency’s $2.6-billion budget includes a plan to bring service to near pre-COVID levels next year. But the transit system is facing a growing repair backlog that threatens its long term viability, the TTC board heard Wednesday.

From The Toronto Star:

Several deputants at the TTC board meeting pushed commissioners to accelerate construction of the Scarborough busway, the planned interim replacement for the Scarborough RT, which unexpectedly derailed in July. The $55-million busway is currently unfunded.

Krissan Veerasingam, board member for transit advocacy group TTCriders said underinvestment in transit in Scarborough comes at a cost of "time being stolen from us."

"I'm certain the price of beginning construction on the busway pales in comparison to the costs being borne by Scarborough residents," he said.

Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of TTCriders, questioned if the TTC's planned increases to service in 2024 will truly result in better service amid worsening congestion across the city that stalls buses and streetcars.

In a recent "amazing race" along King Street, a Star reporter took 79 minutes to travel from King and Bathurst streets to King and Jarvis streets on the streetcar due to gridlock, despite that corridor being designed to prioritize transit.

Pizey-Allen also pointed out that the TTC has not restored its pre-pandemic crowding standards — which dictate the number of people that can fit on a TTC vehicle before adding more service — since increasing the them in 2023.

"Are we really returning to pre-pandemic levels? No, we have a different standard now," she said, adding the higher crowding standards have grave consequences for people who use mobility devices. The board passed a motion by Commissioner Josh Matlow asking that the TTC look into the cost of restoring the service standards in the 2025 budget.

The TTC budget will go to city council for final approval on February 14, 2024.

Read the full story here: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ttc-2024-budget-more-service-no-fare-increases/article_c312e050-9f46-11ee-97e7-fff536c22b54.html

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