You could soon wait 10 minutes for subways in Toronto

A transit advocacy group is strongly criticizing Toronto’s government after Wednesday’s proposal to boost the TTC’s bottom line and hike fares by 10 cents, noting that subway wait times could also increase by several minutes.

Mayor John Tory said the government is pushing for $53 million in new funding and a 10-cent cash fare increase to help pay for a suite of new programs that will address service and safety issues. The draft 2023 city budget won’t be fully released until next week.

In a statement, “TTCRiders” says that in the proposed TTC operating budget, subway wait times could be as long as 10 minutes in some areas of the city, depending on demand.

“Mayor Tory has proposed deep budget cuts that will leave transit users waiting longer for their bus, streetcar, and subway. And when their TTC vehicle arrives, it will be more crowded,” TTCRiders said.

The current average wait time on the TTC’s Line 1 is 2-3 minutes, with an average of 3-4 minutes on Line 2. The proposed transit budget highlights subway service that would run at “6-minutes-or-better service levels and as low as 10-minutes-or-better service levels.”

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said that peak weekday subway service will be scheduled at similar levels to what they are currently.

A report from Moovit in mid-December found that GTA commuters spend more time and travel further distances on trains, buses and streetcars than most other North American cities. The findings showed that the average distance traversed on GTA transit systems is 12.29 km per trip, putting Toronto in the top spot for the farthest distance travelled with public transit in North America.

The average commute time in the GTA is 56 minutes one-way, which comes in third to Washington D.C. at 57 minutes and New York City at 58 minutes.

RELATED: John Tory calls for $48M in new spending as part of 2023 Toronto police budget

The Toronto Transit Commission’s 2023 operating budget also proposes $4.4 million for policing, outreach, and cleanliness measures. Tory said on Wednesday that hiring more Special Constables to patrol the TTC will cost $2.4 million and is committing to ensuring cleaner streetcars, which would cost approximately $1 million.

Toronto streetcar service will also be reduced to 87 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, bus service will be reduced to 94 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, and rapid transit service will be reduced to 75 per cent.

The TTC has seen several high-profile safety incidents in recent years, such as a woman fatally stabbed at High Park station and six people attacked at St. Clair station in December, along with a handful of times when people were pushed off of subway station platforms.

TTC employees have also been the subject of stabbings and assaults more recently.

“The operators have been subject to unacceptable abuse in some cases but also violence, and of course, there have been more of these random incidents involving passengers, which we’re hoping we’ll be able we begin to address with these investments I’ve announced today,” Tory said.

On Tuesday, Tory called for raising the Toronto police budget by $48.3 million to hire 200 additional officers.

With files from Nick Westoll of CityNews