Record Increase in Public Transit Ridership

Makes sense given the price of gas in Canada, but still somewhat surprising given the insane cost of public transit in many Canadian cities. The TTC is what, $2.75 per ride cash fare and $100 a month for a Metropass?

Read and weep (all prices in US $)

New York: $2/$76
Philly: $2/$70
Chicago: $1.75/$75
Boston: $1.70/$59
Atlanta: $1.75/$53
SF: $1.50/$45
LA: $1.25/$52

Most US cities also allow you to put a transit pass on your payroll with pre-tax dollars, so the real cost is even less.

You are getting screwed Toronto, and you're just taking it.

This new TTC map makes me weep with joy.

Alas, I try not to be a pessimist, but I am 97% confident it will not see the light of day.

As for the pricing... if the TTC looked like the above map, I wouldn't mind paying our current prices. But I suppose to get the TTC to look like that we have to pay the current prices... so... yeah, we're probably being screwed.

Our public transit is also less publically funded than those American cities, which has been the TTC's complaint for a long time. The 3 levels of government need to step up and invest in the TTC. The TTC has a much larger percentage of their revenue from fares than any of those American cities.

Yes, of course the TTC itself is not the culprit, it is the senior governments for underfunding it. I am well aware of the over-80% farebox revenue stream of the TTC, and they probably run the single most cost-efficient system on the continent. That doesn't change the fact that Toronto voters seem not to care about this come election time. Quit dozing and do something about it, or continue to get raked over the coals for your fares.

uSkyscraper - MTA fares are forecasted to reach $3US by 2010.

The only transit users who get screwed in Toronto are the small minority who actually pay the $2.75 cash fare.

uSkyscraper: Were those prices set back when the Canadian dollar was worth nothing? That might explain the huge difference.

Notably, Montreal has a much cheaper monthly pass ... only $65. Plus, if you're a student under 25, with proof, you pay a measly, measly $35. The TTC forces universities here to wrangle special deals for their students, and we STILL have to pay $87.75 for our passes, which isn't much of a discount.

Mark, don't believe a word that the MTA or any transit agency says about fares until it actually happens. They all cry foul as much as possible to increase subsidies. We can only make judgements based on the facts on the table, and those facts indicate Toronto transit riders are being punished compared to their American (and some Canadian) counterparts.

Gloria, yes, of course the C$ makes a difference, but it has been above 80 cents for a while and that alone does not make up for the huge difference.

Some more figures:

Portland: $2/$74
DC: $1.35-$2.30/$88 (rail, noncommuter distances)
Seattle: $1.50/$54
Minneapolis: $1.50-$2/$76
Miami: $1.50/$75

Not much cheaper, but still:

Vancouver: $2.50-$4.50/$69-$130
Montreal: $2.75/$65
Ottawa: $2.25 / $73 (O-Train)

Mike Harris saw to the death of transit funding 12 years ago. Now we're paying for it in spades. Just when ridership is rising, funding isn't increasing to meet the increased demand.
Dalton McGuinty has to do something quickly to undo the "revenue neutral" trickery of Harris & Co. particularly during an election year.

Jonathan -- few riders pay a cash fare in any city (the true cost in New York is around $1.35 a ride after Metrocard discounts) but I was trying to keep it apples-to-apples.

Some of those new lines should be subways. We're talking about the future of transit after all.