Affordability

Will candidates commit to making life affordable for transit riders?

Torontonians are experiencing an affordability crisis due to international situations out of their control, and the City must do everything it can to make life more affordable. Riders tell us again and again that the costs of taking transit pile up, leaving them with expensive decisions on whether taking transit is financially sustainable.

For some, budgeting for transit can mean being late on rent, missing class, burning out on extra shifts, purchasing less food, or avoiding transit altogether to save on costs. For 30 years, fare increases has been vastly higher than the rate of inflation. On top of that, Torontonians cannot afford any increase in fares. In fact, the TTC's own report says that even a $0.10 fare increase would result in ~500,000 fewer rides being taken. A $1.10 fare increase would result in ~31 million fewer rides every year.

If we want people to keep using the TTC, riders need to see it as the most cost-effective way to get around Toronto. That's why maintaining a fare freeze and lowering the fare cap for all, and deepening affordability for lower-income riders is crucial over the next four years as we face more and more economic uncertainty. Here's what we asked candidates:

4. Will you commit to lowering the monthly fare cap to 40 rides or less, or to implementing weekly fare capping at 10 rides/week or less?

Nadia Guerrera	Yes
Debbie King	Yes
Diana Chan McNally	Yes
Bridget Ogundipe	Yes
Adam Pham	Yes
Vanessa Raponi	Yes
Holly Weber	Yes
Steve Yuen	Yes

5. Will you commit to work with colleges and universities to make transit more affordable to post-secondary students?

Nadia Guerrera	Yes
Debbie King	Yes
Diana Chan McNally	Yes
Bridget Ogundipe	Yes
Adam Pham	Yes
Vanessa Raponi	Yes
Holly Weber	Yes
Steve Yuen	Yes

6. Will you maintain a fare freeze to keep transit affordable?

Nadia Guerrera	Yes
Debbie King	Yes
Diana Chan McNally	Yes
Bridget Ogundipe	Yes
Adam Pham	Yes
Vanessa Raponi	Yes
Holly Weber	Yes
Steve Yuen	Yes

7. Will you commit to establishing a plan to implement phase 3 of the Fair Pass program to provide deeply affordable fares for more low-income riders?

Nadia Guerrera	Yes
Debbie King	Yes
Diana Chan McNally	Yes
Bridget Ogundipe	Yes
Adam Pham	Yes
Vanessa Raponi	Yes
Holly Weber	Yes
Steve Yuen	Yes

Some candidates offered extra comments about their position on TTC affordability:

Nadia Guerrera

"Transit must be an affordable and practical way to move around Toronto. I support maintaining the fare freeze, expanding the Fair Pass and working with postsecondary institutions to reduce costs for students. I also support a lower fare cap so frequent riders are not penalized for relying on the TTC. These improvements must be supported by sustainable government funding so affordability is not achieved through service cuts."

Diana Chan McNally

"We know from transit riders that the #1 thing that will contribute to increasing transit use is fast and reliable service. So while I believe in maintaining the fare freeze and achieving the lowest possible fare cap threshold, maintaining and improving service levels must be of paramount importance. We don’t want service cuts. If the only way to avoid service cuts is to increase fares, service is ultimately more important. However, we can and should investigate every other possible route to subsidize our transit system, so that the burden does not fall on transit riders — including and especially low-income residents. No matter what, fare increases should not be borne off residents who are financially precarious."

Vanessa Raponi

"Affordable transit is imperative to ensure folks who are entirely reliant (meaning, they do not have a vehicle or alternative means of transportation), can reliably count on budgeting this expense during an affordability crisis. Transit must be for everyone, and we need to get ridership back up to pre-pandemic levels. This is one tool to allow us to accomplish that goal."

Holly Weber

"An affordable TTC is essential to an affordable and accessible Toronto. We need a transit system that people can afford to use and can depend on. Investing wisely in the TTC and ensuring assistance reaches riders who need it most are important parts of keeping our city accessible and livable for everyone."