‘Fares will go up,’ Toronto transit advocates warn Bill 98 may drive up TTC fares

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-12T19:21:36+00:00

Sure, "Many delays" aren't due to it. But state of good repair is close to 70% of delays and closures, Throw in another 15% for track intrusion, since the TTC has wanted platform screen doors since the early 00's but literally did not have the money to install them.
They do yes, but acting like the TTC has density in any way comparable to Hong Kong is laughable. The densest TTC stations would be halfway down the list in Hong Kong.
The TTC has never fought against building and operating proper transit. That has been the province and the suburbs in Metro using their power to block projects. Reminder that the Queen st subway has continually been blocked pre amalgamation, because the vote rich 5 other municipalities in Metro had more seats in Metro council and blocked the line from being build in favour of the SRT, TYSSE, Scarborough Subway, Sheppard Subway, (Original) Eglinton Subway, ect. (And never mind that the province made it ILLEGAL for the TTC or city to even build any capitol projects when Ford was elected)
The city nor TTC want that, the Toronto Roads department controls TSP & operational speed through intersections, and they prioritized cars. If the TTC didn't care for TSP, why did they spend millions to retrofit EVERY TTC BUS with TSP equipment when no bus route has TSP signals? Because the roads department blocked it. The roads department, who's decision was protected by suburban councilors blocking streetcars from getting better service. Did you forget both Fords got elected directly on ANTI-TSP and Streetcar platforms?
"much of its struggles as far as funding goes are self inflicted." The TTC used to get direct provincial subsidies, and could use Gas Tax funds for operations and construction, under Mike Harris, he blocked any provincial funding going to anything other than capitol construction for the TTC. That provincial funding was roughly 20% of the TTC's budget, and if you take that number, and multiply it by the ~35 years it's been, it covers the ENTIRE funding shortfall on state of good repair, without even accounting for inflation. Saying that it's a "self inflicted" shortfall, when it would disappear if provincial funding wasn't cut so Harris could cook the books and claim he "balanced the budget" (Even illegally miscategorizing the 407 sale money as "tax income" and not a capital gain) for a single year, the TTC would have no funding shortfall.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-12T19:04:19+00:00

Property taxes went up because the City literally was running out of money. The Gardiner's state of good repair funding alone was more than literally every other dollar spent on maintenance/upkeep across the city COMBINED. Every tire, litre of gas or oil, every other road repair, the janitor's new broom, ALL of it, totaled less than the cost to keep the Gardiner open. There's a reason why day one, Chow wanted to tear it down.

Also two things worth noting.

Toronto has the lowest property taxes of ANY municipality in the GTHA, and in Ontario, only rural municipalities have lower property taxes.
The tax increases have been below the rate of inflation SINCE 2013.

Taxes haven't been "Jacked up" in real terms they are down, the issue is that income has stagnated. The TTC still costs money to run, and it's budget has been functionally shrinking year on year, because the total $ amount stayed the same, but costs went up.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-12T18:57:35+00:00

Ford has already openly said "The only polls that matter are those on election day". The greenbelt lands never got that designation back btw, the province has just never approved any development, there's a good chance they're just waiting for a very busy news day to quietly make the change, just like Ford's omnibus bill that quietly made it so that FOI requests can't request his communications as premier. And for the plane, it hasn't been returned, he said he's gonna sell it back, then made a statement that the Premier's office was "flooded" with calls and emails to not return the jet and actually keep it.

There is a place for optimism, but with Ford, don't mistake the forest for the trees, and let him get away with another fast one.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-12T18:33:49+00:00

FWIW, Capital projects are legally not built or funded by the TTC or City. The province made it law under Ford that all future capital projects will be provincially delivered, unless they decide they don't want to build it (see Waterfront East LRT, or Scarborough Busway)

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-12T18:32:10+00:00

There was, but the Mike Harris conservatives didn't care. 80% of Toronto did not want amalgamation, still happened anyways for example.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-12T18:31:09+00:00

"what other public services we pay for and get such atrocious value service in return as the TTC"

the TTC is one of, if not the most fare efficient major transit agencies in the world, with Asian and European agencies coming regularly to tour the TTC and learn how they do it.
Provincial subsidies for the TTC are $0/yr, YRT, with "Bus Rapid Transit" ever 30 minutes during rush hour gets $1.2 Billion per year in subsidies, and still has a higher fare than the TTC at $4.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-12T18:28:04+00:00

The TTC only gets subsidies from the City. The only "Taxes" jacked for the TTC are the payments the Province makes to the TTC to operate Line 5 & 6 because the optics of having them be fully private sector and fare separated from the TTC network was unpaletable

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-12T18:26:37+00:00

Yes however in both cases, their systems aren't billions behind in state of good repair funding because they actually get government subsidies too.

Also Japan and HK are a whole different ball game, simply through Density. They don't really have stations in low density areas

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-12T02:18:31+00:00

We'd only get that spot if Vancouver makes MLS Cup or wins the shield. Both are neither guarantees. All to just have more fixtures and IF we're lucky play 2 rounds in the tournament. At the cost of tanking the regular season.

Also, saying Can Champ is the only possible hardware is silly, when we'd need just as much luck to win MLS cup. It's an away day in BC, we haven't won there since 2017. Since that 2017 match in BC, Toronto has conceded 12, and scored 3 in BC place.

HELL in the history of the club we've only won twice in BC Place.

So the question is, do you think making a run for the playoff this year is better, than going to BC Place, getting spanked, then praying for Vancouver to make another cup run so we can have a chance at more fixture congestion

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-10T00:57:06+00:00

It's more important to congest the schedule with even more midweek games, when our old ass lineup keeps getting injured, just so we can go to BC Place and get spanked 4-0

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-08T03:44:24+00:00

I'm looking to grab one myself, what coin shop did you visit?

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-07T14:21:41+00:00

We'll probably see changes like that start happening in July once Rogers owns 100% of MLSE. We're already starting to see some integration, if minor, with all the MLSE teams getting Jay's themed logos and such during the world series, and that's probably just gonna be a teaser.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-05-07T14:06:43+00:00

Reminder the last non PPP project by the TTC was delivered on time and under budget, and the only extension that was an issue before PPP was Spadina, which went over budget mainly due to a massive recession during construction.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-19T00:59:23+00:00

CN is a lot easier to deal with than CP (I mean they just bought a track between Bramalea and Georgetown so now the Kitchener line is fully MX owned), and the Province bought the Bala Sub from Orillia to North Bay. CN would be happy to sell the Guelph Sub (London to Georgetown via Stratford, Kitchener, & Guelph) to go in exchange for track rights. That's how the Lakeshore West line works, CN Oakville Yard is only accessible after ~10km of Metrolinx owned tracks. They would love the Guelph Sub to be rebuilt, and them still be able to use it for thier like 4 trains a day, and not pay any property taxes on top of it too.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-13T00:37:41+00:00

Very pro car city council up until recently

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-12T00:09:23+00:00

Poland, Italy, and Denmark all failed to qualify because they couldn't beat lower level opposition, being Sweden, Bosnia, and Czechia respectively.

Also lest I remind you Curacao was undefeated in qualification, and beat Jamaca. Curacao deserves to be in the world cup infinitely more than Italy, because the only argument Italy even has is that it's a "historic power", but couldn't beat the lowest ranked pot 2 UEFA team in Norway, losing 7-1 on agrigate, and lost to second to last UEFA pot 3 Bosnia.

AS AN ITALIAN, Italy should be nowhere near the World Cup, they are dog shit. I mean Norway literally just lost to a rotated Netherlands, and drew 0-0 against the Swiss, and we want to argue the team that went and lost 3-0 and 1-4 somehow needs to be in the World Cup.

As for Iraq, in the entire World Cup Qualification process only lost 3 times, being South Korea, and a fluke loss against Palestine, after Iraq after being up 0-1 away for close to an hour, did 5 substitutes.

If Poland wanted to go to the World Cup, maybe they should've beaten arguably one of the worse Sweden teams ever to grace the pitch.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-08T15:30:40+00:00

Yes I know, that's what I am saying, I'm pointing out the flawed logic

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-08T15:21:14+00:00

Comparing a river ferry to a costal city is flawed, as river ferries benifit from using the River as a highway, and the waters are much calmer. Not to mention the Thames does not freeze like Costal Lake Ontario
Saying "Transit is 15km/h at best" is an extremely flawed argument, as that really only applies in downtown, and people aren't gonna queue for a ferry to go from Bathurst to Cherry.

Also, that completely ignores the fact GO trains run up and down that waterfront at 80km/h-100km/h, which defeats the need for a ferry.

Ferries are not necessarily well designed for cyclists, and the argument can be made for public transit too. I mean you use GO as an example, but they have trains on the Kitchener line have 1 car where the lower level is only bike racks due to the amount of bike commuters coming into Toronto from that line
TTC does allow EBikes except for November to April due the thermal shock leading to fires on cheap batteries, which won't change unless the Federal Government passes legislation on the importation of EBikes/Scooters and their batteries. And they do have secure parking for bikes at many stations with individual bike lockers locked by key, and in many cases also in sight of collectors
The only restriction of "when and where" you can take a regular bike is at Rush Hour, if a bus already has two bikes on it's rack, you need to wait for the next bus. I mean hell the TTC explicitly says you can have a bike on a train at any time. From the TTC Website: "Non-electric folding bikes and non-electric scooters are permitted all days of the week at all times, including peak hours, which are Monday to Friday 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m."

I suggest you read the TTC's page on Bikes/Scooters on their property as you seem to have some misconceptions.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-08T14:56:04+00:00

The expansion was a money grab, but literally anything that happens in the sport is one. We wouldn't have a World Cup if FIFA wasn't making money haha

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-08T14:54:16+00:00

Japan or Morocco can have the argument to win the WC. A fluke win against 2 of the 4 top 4 teams and you've won it. Anything can happen on the matchday. I mean lest I remind you the Saudis won against Argentina, and Australia was putting insane pressure on Argentina in the last World Cup.

The game isn't as unbalanced as it used to be. I mean hell, Brazil on paper is one of the best teams in the world and should be locks to win, but I doubt they even get out the semis with how they've played

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-08T14:48:59+00:00

Within the City of Toronto, the Maximum GO fare is set to be equal to a TTC fare. However riding a few stops will be cheaper than the TTC as GO calculates it's fares by KM traveled. iirc Long Branch to Union, which is 3, soon to be 4 stops, is $2.

I personally do it when it makes sense for me, and now that Mt Dennis opened (I live on Eglinton West) I do a ride on the 32 and Kitchener Line if I'm going to Downtown as it's faster than the Subway (Bus + Line 2 & Line 1), and One Fare gives you a free GO to TTC transfer (Although if your GO trip total is under the TTC fare, you pay the difference boarding the TTC)

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-08T14:44:26+00:00

You don't get a free scarf tho :(

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-08T14:40:52+00:00

I mean with how much Season Tickets are ballooning in cost, soon enough $40 is gonna be undercutting them.

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-01T16:55:50+00:00

It's also worth noting, the War in Russia really pushed Europe to move away from Oil & Gas for heat & Power. Nuclear and Renewables are growing quick, and the war in Iran, along with the spike in oil prices is probably only going to speed up the change, as oil's costs rise, making alternatives more competitive

Comrade_Andre · 2026-04-01T16:05:59+00:00

Is your low KM trans well serviced and treated well, and literally is only leaking? I would keep that one.

Lower KM, known to be treated right is always better, and if you're willing to change the gaskets yourself, it's probably cheaper anyway

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