If You're Going to Increase, You Must Improve

So despite the recent influx of gas-tax monies to the cities in order that they might help fund transit, the CBC is reporting that the TTC will be once again raising fares.

Fare hikes can, and do, serve a purpose. We need a public transit which is adequately funded, and can do the job. That the Provincial and Federal governments so woefully underfund the Rocket is the prime reason we pay so much, not greed on the part of the TTC.

But it's becoming an issue of optics and value for money. Every year we see a fare hike. Every year we see only minor improvments (and indeed, back in the 90s we were seeing cutbacks), that aren't really noticeable.

What we need, if we're going to be able to swallow the fee hikes, is something to show for it. What we need, is to get rid of advertising. According to the TPSC ad revenue amounts to only 4 cents per ride. Given that the expected fare hike was to be 20 cents rather than the 10 cents it now is, perhaps pushing it up to 15 wouldn't be a bad idea.

Yes, it would cost more. But we'd finally have something to show for the increase.