TTC 5 cent fare hike on track for Jan. 1

Nov 20, 2012 | News

By Kaitie Fraser and Stephen Donkers

Change is coming to the Toronto Transit Commission – about five cents worth.

The TTC is expected to confirm a fare hike on Wednesday that will come into effect Jan. 1.

A TTC report that outlines “a modest fare increase in line with the rate of inflation is required to balance the budget” will be presented at the committee meeting, the CBC reported.

At the same time, Toronto’s transit battle for a new downtown subway line would also be pushed forward.

The TTC is recommending that a secondary subway line – dubbed the downtown relief line – be the next major transit project.

According to a report by the TTC, the Downtown Relief Line is needed to relieve overcrowding on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway.

“Getting funding from the different levels of government will be the key factor in getting the downtown relief line going,’ said Toronto city councilor Josh Matlow at a town hall meeting.

Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker said that funding could come from raising property taxes, even though citizens in his ward oppose it.

Listen: De Baeremaeker discusses citizen’s wants.

“People want more transit but don’t want to pay for it,” De Baeremaeker told Humber News. “The reality is if people want more transit in Toronto, they will have to pay for it.”

Listen: Councilor De Baeremaeker explains the miscommunication between citizens and political leaders.

The TTC report recommends the first phase for the downtown relief line start at St. Andrew subway station, cross over to King station and move east then north to Pape station on the Bloor-Danforth line.

De Baermaeker said this purposed line would cost about half a billion dollars.

Listen: De Baeremaeker criticizes the purposed Sheppard line and budget.