Numbers don’t add up for riders

On ridership, fares and city subsidies, the TTC’s numbers don’t point to a system that’s getting better for transit users. Ridership In 2003, the TTC had 405.4 million customers, 10 million fewer than the year before. To reverse that alarming trend, the commission launched a ridership growth strategy that kicked off a 30-per-cent increase in transit trips over the next decade. But last year, ridership was essentially flat, at 535 million. This year, the commission might only reach 540 million, well short of its budgeted target of 553 million. TTC fare vs. property tax Mayor John Tory, like his predecessor Rob Ford, has promised not to raise property taxes above the rate of inflation. Neither made the same promise about TTC fares. Since 2010, city revenue from the TTC has in- creased by $303 million, while revenue from property tax rate increases has risen by only $237 million. Adjusted for inflation, the TTC’s contribution has gone up by 17.7 per cent, while that of property taxes has declined by 4.8 per cent. TTC subsidy The operating subsidy provided by the city has increased from $430 million in 2010 to $483 million in 2015. But that hasn’t kept pace with increasing ridership, and when calculated by the number of trips taken, the subsidy has fallen from 93 cents per ride to 89 cents per ride.

Adjusted for inflation, that’s a drop of 14 per cent. TTC fare hikes In 2009, a token cost $2.25 and $109 could buy you an adult Metropass. Successive fare hikes have pushed those costs to $2.90 for a token and $141.50 for a Metropass, about a 30-per-cent increase. Inflation over that period was only 12 per cent.