Ontario budget 2023: No plans yet for TTC, GO Transit co-fares unlike elsewhere in GTA
Posted March 23, 2023 4:40 pm.
Last Updated March 23, 2023 5:54 pm.
As the Ontario government touts the ability for residents in the Greater Toronto Area to ride local transit and GO Transit at a discounted rate, that ability still hasn’t been extended to Canada’s largest city.
During the presentation of the budget on Thursday, the Ford government promoted a program that aims to make transit more affordable as “Ontario families continue to look at managing costs.”
For residents who take GO Transit and local transit services in Barrie, York Region, Bradford-West Gwillimbury, Durham Region, Milton, Guelph, Cambridge-Kitchener-Waterloo, Milton, Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton and Burlington, they receive a discount and don’t have to pay the local transit fare.
However, in Toronto, passengers who begin or end their trip using the TTC have to pay the full fare ($3.20 as of March 23 if using a Presto card) plus the full GO Transit fare.
Despite having the largest local ridership base, expansion of the program to Toronto wasn’t included in the 2023 budget. Instead, there was a reference to ongoing talks.
“The government is working to expand this initiative to support more people using public transit to come into Toronto,” the document said.
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Toronto deputy mayor Jennifer McKelvie said in a statement Thursday afternoon that she welcomed a commitment to bring the co-fare program in Toronto, adding the elimination of double fares would be a “major step forward for transit” in the city and beyond.
CityNews asked for an update on the talks with the City of Toronto and the TTC as well as when the program would come into effect within the city’s borders. Officials said work is ongoing and progress has been made, but no projected timeline was given.
Stan Cho, Ontario’s associate minister of transportation, first announced the discount co-fare program for municipalities outside of Toronto in March 2022. CityNews asked at the time when Toronto residents could expect to have the same benefit.
“A project of this size and the changes we’re making do take a little bit of time, so the discussions with the TTC will be ongoing. The ultimate goal of course is to make sure we connect the entire grid,” he said at the time.
Then-TTC chair Jaye Robinson said at the time negotiations were ongoing and praised the province for helping the agency deal with fare losses during the pandemic. However, she said extending the program to Toronto would help the local economy and residents who live near the city’s borders.
“Certainly exciting for the region and beyond, but we need this in Toronto. We had a pilot, I think it worked very well, they cancelled the pilot and we would like that to resume,” Robinson said in 2022.
“Scarborough and Etobicoke play a big role in them getting back and forth to work. We want to support frontline workers, we want to support all workers, we want people back in the downtown core working so things can really recover as quickly as possible.”
