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What does the TTC have in store for us next year?

Riders will be facing fare hikes and service cuts in 2016 unless we take action.

Over 100 riders rallied for more service and lower fares at the key November 23 TTC Commission meeting.  So what did we get? The bad news is riders are being slapped with $23M in fare hikes, but we’re getting just $5M more in service. Don’t get us wrong - this new service is necessary - it’s just that these modest improvements do not meet today’s Toronto transit needs.

City Hall now gets to weigh in on the TTC’s budget, and decide how much government funding our TTC will get in 2016.

We must take action to keep what we have, and get what we need.

Budget highlights so far

  1. $5.4M in possible new service

  • Sunday subway service will start at 8.00am instead of 9.00am in January. Connecting bus and streetcar routes will also start running at 8.00am on Sunday, but later in the year.
  • Bus service will become more reliable.  Bus schedules will be changed to match actual bus route times, there will be more rapid-response replacement buses when something goes wrong, and there will be better maintenance of old buses.
  • Reliability on the 501 Queen St and 504 King St lines should improve.
  • Four soon-to-be-announced new express bus routes will run all day.

  1. The Commission rejected $4.2M in recommended service improvements

  • There will be no new improvements to subway service reliability.  Yep, next time the Yonge Line breaks down and we get crazy ridership experiences like that seen in the picture below, let’s remember the Commission said no to subway reliability.   
  • No 3-minute service on the line 1 subway during off peak hours.
  • No money for the new Cherry St car route.
[caption id="attachment_6533" align="aligncenter" width="615"]crowdedbus Remember that subway breakdown this year? Well, the commission voted NO to improving subway reliability so expect more of the same in 2016.[/caption]

  1. Fare hikes are coming

On January 1, the TTC will:
  • hike cash fares by 25 cents to $3.25
  • hike tokens by 10 cents to $2.90
  • Freeze senior and student fares, and metropasses.
While fare freezes are a step in the right direction, it’s no victory.  Our metropass is the most expensive in Canada, having risen 42% in the past decade.  This is the second year running where John Tory has broken his election promise and hiked fares.

  1. We’ve got a big funding shortfall

Thanks to riders’ grassroots advocacy, the TTC has been re-introducing most of the service cut during the Ford years.  We cannot go backwards again.

The TTC needs $41M from governments this year just to maintain current service levels, and bring in the small service improvements that were listed above.

Here’s what we need

City Hall and the Province must show true leadership and give fair funding to the TTC so riders can have great service and lower fares, especially for those in financial need.  

The City must fund the TTC at $1.26 a ride this year, and the Province must match the city’s contribution.  That would bring our funding levels up to about the Canadian subsidy-per-ride average.

Screen Shot 2015-12-02 at 3.52.59 PM

We are also calling on the City and Province to fully fund the TTC’s capital budget (there’s a $2.4B shortfall) so we can get more accessible transit, more reliable service, and more street cars, buses, and subways.

Riders already pay more than our fair share. We pay a greater percentage of our public transit systems’ costs than riders anywhere in the continent.  In fact, the TTC’s subsidy per ride for 2015 (about 89 cents) is LOWER than it was in 2010.

Here’s what we are going to do about it

  1. The city budget process will begin on December 1 and go until March 2016.  This is the time where your councillor gets to decide how much money goes to each city department, including the TTC.
  2. Contact your city councillor and ask them to fairly fund the TTC at $1.26 a ride, and tell Premier Wynne to match the City's contribution.  Click here to send a message to Premier Wynne and Mayor Tory right now!   We have also included the contact details of these elected officials below so you can send your councillor a personal email explaining why you want the TTC to have more funding.
District Job First name Last name Email Phone
Toronto Mayor John Tory [email protected] 416-397-CITY (2489)
Ward 1 Councillor Vincent Crisanti [email protected] 416-392-0205
Ward 2 Councillor Rob Ford [email protected] 416-397-9255
Ward 3 Councillor Stephen Holyday [email protected] 416-392-4002
Ward 4 Councillor John Campbell [email protected] 416-392-1369
Ward 5 Councillor Justin Di Ciano [email protected] 416-392-4040
Ward 6 Councillor Mark Grimes [email protected] 416-397-9273
Ward 7 Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti [email protected] 416-395-6401
Ward 8 Councillor Anthony Perruzza [email protected] 416-338-5335
Ward 9 Councillor Maria Augimeri [email protected] 416-392-4021
Ward 10 Councillor James Pasternak [email protected] 416-392-1371
Ward 11 Councillor Frances Nunziata [email protected] 416-392-4091
Ward 12 Councillor Frank Di Giorgio [email protected] 416-392-4066
Ward 13 Councillor Sarah Doucette [email protected] 416-392-4072
Ward 14 Councillor Gord Perks [email protected] 416-392-7919
Ward 15 Councillor Josh Colle [email protected] 416-392-4027
Ward 16 Councillor Christin Carmichael Greb [email protected] 416-392-4090
Ward 17 Councillor Cesar Palacio [email protected] 416-392-7011
Ward 18 Councillor Ana Bail„o [email protected] 416-392-7012
Ward 19 Councillor Mike Layton [email protected] 416-392-4009
Ward 20 Councillor Joe Cressy [email protected] 416-392-4044
Ward 21 Councillor Joe Mihevc [email protected] 416-392-0208
Ward 22 Councillor Josh Matlow [email protected] 416-392-7906
Ward 23 Councillor John Filion [email protected] 416-392-0210
Ward 24 Councillor David Shiner [email protected] 416-395-6413
Ward 25 Councillor Jaye Robinson [email protected] 416-395-6408
Ward 26 Councillor Jon Burnside [email protected] 416-392-0215
Ward 27 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam [email protected] 416-392-7903
Ward 28 Councillor Pam McConnell [email protected] 416-392-7916
Ward 29 Councillor Mary Fragedakis [email protected] 416-392-4032
Ward 30 Councillor Paula Fletcher [email protected] 416-392-4060
Ward 31 Councillor Janet Davis [email protected] 416-392-4035
Ward 32 Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon [email protected] 416-392-1376
Ward 33 Councillor Shelley Carroll [email protected] 416-392-4038
Ward 34 Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong [email protected] 416-397-9256
Ward 35 Councillor Michelle Berardinetti [email protected] 416-392-0213
Ward 36 Councillor Gary Crawford [email protected] 416-392-4052
Ward 37 Councillor Michael Thompson [email protected] 416-397-9274
Ward 38 Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker [email protected] 416-392-0204
Ward 39 Councillor Jim Karygiannis [email protected] 416-392-1374
Ward 40 Councillor Norman Kelly [email protected] 416-392-4047
Ward 41 Councillor Chin Lee [email protected] 416-392-1375
Ward 42 Councillor Raymond Cho [email protected] 416-392-4076
Ward 43 Councillor Paul Ainslie [email protected] 416-392-4008
Ward 44 Councillor Ron Moeser [email protected] 416-392-1373
 

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