Discount on fare between TTC and GO to end on March 31

The $1.50 discount Presto card users get when they use both the TTC and either the GO train or the UP express in one trip will end on March 31.

The program, called the Discounted Double Fare, was funded by the provincial government as a part of a three year agreement between Metrolinx and the TTC.

The province announced back in July of 2019 they would not continue to subsidize the transit discount when the agreement expired in March.

It paid $18.4 million a year to offset the cost of the discount for both transit agencies, but the Progressive Conservatives say the funding was designed to be temporary.

When the Ford government announced they wouldn’t be funding it any longer, Metrolinx and the TTC both said they hoped to engage in discussions to allow the discount to continue.

However, Metrolinx announced Tuesday it would be ending when the provincial funds run out.

A statement from Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said they will “bringing forward solutions in the near future to help our customers travel through the region using different methods of transit.”

The discount proved popular, exceeding it’s allotted budget by $2.6 million in 2018-2019 and was expected to do so by $6.7 million in 2019-2020.

Metrolinx has been on the hook for the shortfall since the start of the program.

Correction: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly stated the double fare program would end on March 1