Mayor John Tory says “brighter days are ahead for the TTC” thanks to $95 million in service improvements that could begin going into effect in less than two weeks’ time.
Tory made the comment at an outdoor rink near Bathurst and Dundas streets on Sunday afternoon as a 10 cent increase on tokens that is expected to cover about $39 million of the service improvements officially went into effect, along with a new policy allowing kids ages 12 and under to ride the TTC for free.
The executive committee is expected to consider the proposed operating and capital budgets tomorrow. City council as a whole will then vote on the budget March 10-11.
“This is the beginning of a time where we are going to be making a huge and historic investment in the TTC. We are going to be buying more buses, we are going to be restoring bus routes, we are going to be brining bus routes back that were diminished and we are going to be reducing crowding levels,” Tory said. “Changes are coming. They are not a ‘what if?’ or a ‘maybe;’ they are coming. More buses will be ordered, more buses will be deployed soon and more trains are going to be put on the subway. I think it is an important day to celebrate.”
During the mayoral campaign Tory said that he would not hike TTC fares, but he later said that he changed his mind after realizing that previous administrations had "starved" the city's transit system "to the breaking point"
Speaking with reporters after taking a streetcar from Bathurst Station on Sunday, Tory said that riders should expect that fares will be "adjusted to a modest degree as required" going forward.
"There is a system to be run. It has costs that rise from time to time and we will adjust fares as necessary," he said.
The fare increase is on the cost of tokens, day passes and metropasses and will not affect the $3 cash fare.
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