TTC officials are proposing a token fare increase, job cuts and service cutbacks as they try to meet the city's demand to cut the transit budget by millions of dollars, according to a Toronto Star report.
The city's public transit authority is looking at a number of measures to save money, from reducing the frequency of transit vehicles and raising the price of tokens by 10 cents to cutting 422 jobs and reviewing 500 others for possible outsourcing, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
Officials are also considering delaying the purchase of new vehicles and making dialysis patients without mobility devices, such as a wheelchair, ineligible to use Wheel-Trans services, the Star reported.
The proposed measures are outlined in a draft report obtained by the newspaper.
But TTC chair Karen Stintz told reporters the TTC will continue to do "more with less" and no route cuts or service cutbacks will occur until all "internal options" are explored.
TTC officials identified the cost-saving options after being told by city hall to cut 10 per cent of the system's $1.4 billion operating budget.
A TTC spokesman and Mayor Rob Ford's office declined to comment on the reported proposals.
In a separate report released Monday, city manager Joe Pennachetti found the city could save money by raising fares for Blue Night buses or cutting late-night routes altogether.
In a statement, Bob Kinnear, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, said service cuts would be unfair to riders.
