Residents' Concerns about the TTC Fare Increases and Safety Endangerment

On April 3rd, the TTC increased its fares by 10 cents. The TTC or the Toronto Transit Committee was founded in 1921 for the sole purpose of providing the City of Toronto with transportation. It began with only buses with its first route in the west end, then in 1938, they added the famous streetcars. Finally, in 1954, they added the subway line that only had 12 stations, known then as the “Yonge Subway” which ran between Union and Eglinton.

Since its opening, the TTC has been increasing its fares to adjust to inflation. In 1954, it went up from 92 cents to $1.34. In 1996, it grew from $2 to $2.85 and in March of this year, the adult fare has increased from $3.25 to $3.35 while youth fares have increased from $2.30 to $2.40. The controversial decision paired with the TTC service cuts in late March has stirred reactions from the public, with people complaining that it will only encourage fare evasion. Other concerns arise from lower-income citizens and communities arguing that these plans affect marginalized and poor communities.

These marginalized citizens mainly include lower-income individuals, families, immigrants and students. Lastly due to the frequent violent attacks on the TTC, many are worried that their safety will be endangered once they take a transit vehicle. 

These concerns have entrenched fears within the daily TTC riders, because of the many unprovoked attacks on TTC vehicles that have shaken the entire GTA. These attacks range from individuals being pushed onto the train tracks, stabbed, swarmed and other assaults.

Taking all these issues into consideration, we went out to the streets of Regent Park and asked the residents their thoughts on the matter.

One TTC user shared his thoughts on the topic saying “Currently the TTC seems to run for profit or monetary profit which I think is completely missing the point of a mass transit system like this. I feel like what we should be doing is investing more because really the TTC is for the people that can't really afford these rate increases… it's to help the people most in need get to the places they need to go. It helps with employment, with interviews, it helps with everything. The only reason I hesitate to use the TTC is confidence in its scheduling and service cuts are going to hurt that, which is going to hurt ridership even more, which is going to hurt their income even more, which means they will have to increase their fares even more, so its this spiral that they've set themselves on and I feel like they have to go hard in the opposite direction. The profits in my opinion of TTC are the value that it brings to the people of Toronto.”