TTC Board approves 2025 budget that freezes fares, invests billions in new vehicles, subway maintenance

The TTC Board approved its 2025 budget on Friday, promising to freeze fares, improve service and invest billions in new vehicles and subway maintenance.

It’s the second straight year that the budget has included a fare freeze.

But as the TTC stressed in a release, this budget also “adds the most service in a decade, improves system safety and cleanliness, and invests more than $16 billion in long-term capital projects.”

“The $2.8-billion combined operating budgets for both the TTC conventional system and Wheel-Trans represent a 6.5-per-cent increase over the approved 2024 budgets and ensures safe, reliable, and affordable service for TTC customers,” it added.

Highlights of the 2025 budget:

• Freezes TTC fares at 2023 prices.
• Allocates $33 million to preserve and build on service increases made in 2024 and address rising demand on weekends and evenings as well as challenges posed by road congestion. The overall increased service hours will match pre-pandemic levels.
• Increases Wheel-Trans funding by $14.2 million to meet the rising demand.
• Establishes a pilot project on 11 routes across the city to reduce bunching and gapping of vehicles in real-time through enhanced on-street route management.
• Funds operating and maintenance costs for the opening of Lines 5 and 6 in 2025 as well as full-year operations on the Line 3 SRT bus replacement service.
• Creates a new subway stations management pilot program to add more staff and improve cleanliness at six priority locations (Scarborough Town Centre bus terminal, and Kennedy, Dundas, Finch, Spadina, and Lansdowne stations).

“This is a great news budget for TTC customers,” said Mayor Olivia Chow. “With this budget we are going to make the TTC the Better Way again!”

TTC Chair Jamaal Myers called the budget a “massive step in the right direction.”

“As a daily TTC rider myself, I am proud that we are addressing two things that are important to our customers: safety and customer experience. This budget will help us build a transit system where parents don’t worry about their kids using the subway at night and vehicles that arrive when they’re supposed to arrive.”

Last week Chow provided some details on the improvements riders could expect in 2025.

“Six-minute or better service, seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on three streetcar routes: Dundas, St. Clair and Bathurst. Imagine that? Faster, you don’t have to wait as long,” said Chow.

“On the subway, Line 1 and Line 2 off-peak periods will operate every five minutes or better. Six minutes or better [service] will be restored on Line 4.”