Contact: Jessica Bell, TTCriders Co-chair 647 772 8770,
[email protected] For immediate release: November 13, 2013
Riders Shoulder Cost Burden in TTC budget Transit members group, TTCriders, says no to the 5 to 25 cent fare hike included the 2014 TTC budget to be debated at the TTC Commission meeting at City Hall on November 18. About 40 TTCriders members and transit users will be attending the TTC Commission meeting on Monday. TTCriders members will also be distributing flyers and talking to passersby outside City Hall from 12pm to 1pm on November 18th. “Riders are sick of the political inaction, the delays, the overcrowding, and the frustration of traveling on a TTC that’s buckling under record ridership levels,” says TTCriders co-chair Jessica Bell. “Toronto already has the lowest subsidy per ride in North America, and this budget takes us even lower. We’re taking transit in the wrong direction.” All major transit systems across North America get a much higher government subsidy per ride than Toronto does. Per rider support for the TTC has been steadily declining. If Toronto received the same subsidy per rider as Vancouver, the TTC’s budget would jump from $1.5 billion to nearly $2.5 billion. TTCriders is calling on the city and the province to increase their contribution to the TTC so service levels can be increased by 25%, and fares reduced, especially for those in financial need. “Fares are already too high, especially for the growing number of Torontonians who struggle to make ends meet,” says TTCriders member, Herman Rosenfeld. “There are fairer ways to pay for a crucial service like public transit than asking riders to pay even more.” Founded in 2011, TTCriders is a public transit advocacy group that gives transit riders a voice. The membership-based group is composed of transit users who want better public transit in Toronto. More information is at: www.ttcriders.ca
