The TTC will raise fares by 25 cents starting April 1, the TTC commissioners voted today. I can’t fault the City or the TTC — the province under Mike Harris’ regime downloaded costs on to the city during amalgamation which has crippled us ever since. Over 80% of the TTC is run on money raised through fares, which is the highest of any North American city. What was once the pride of our city is now being reduced to a second-world system.
So, should the TTC cut services to keep the fares down? The answer to that is a resounding no since evidence points out that service cuts have four to five times more of a negative impact on the use of a trainst system than a modest fare hike. We’ve been going through this charade for eight years — you’d think someone would start to react to this other than city officials….
Transit activist Steve Munro takes mayor-hopeful Jane Pitfiled to task for her stance — she thinks the TTC can trim personnel and negotiate better fuel purchasing deals. Munro writes:
For comic relief, into the fray comes Councillor Pitfield, would-be mayor, huffing and puffing that the TTC should not raise fares and that the money should be found somewhere else within their own budget — maybe in HR (there’s always room to trim a few staff here and there), maybe in tougher negotiations on fuel costs. If she were paying attention, she would know that an extraordinary jump in TTC costs was coming this year when the old fixed-price contract for diesel fuel runs out. That’s worth $27-million, more than the 2% target City Council set for all of its agencies’ budget increases. The TTC will be running more service this year, and that pushes up costs. They have a negotiated increase in pay for their staff. They have the creeping impact of low-floor vehicles which hold fewer passengers and drive up the costs of running heavy routes. They have a provincially-mandated increase in health-care benefits. None of this is a secret to anyone on Council or to anyone who follows TTC affairs. All the same, we’ve been through the same routine of budget hawks chasing transit doves while the real decision, the final balancing act, will occur at Council.
read the rest of Munro’s post at his site.
