Mayoral candidate Chris Alexander is promising to hike TTC fares and crack down on fare enforcement in an effort to generate an estimated $100 million in new revenue that he says could be put towards “fixing” the system. Alexander made the commitment during a press conference outside the TTC’s Yonge Street headquarters on Friday as he outlined a five-point plan that he dubbed the “Toronto Transit Turnaround.” “Public transit is the backbone of Toronto. It keeps us moving, gets us where we need to go. Mayor Chow has neglected it. We will fix it,” he said. “She has allowed fraud to grow in the system, she has neglected repairs, she has allowed a situation to arise where people are afraid to take the TTC. Those days are over. We have to get the TTC moving again. We have to make it a system that works for everyone.” Chow has frozen fares on the TTC for the last three years and has campaigned on keeping those fares frozen in 2027 while introducing a new weekly ride cap that would allow Torontonians to take the TTC for free after 10 paid rides. Alexander said that if elected, he would reverse Chow’s “regressive fair policy” and instead push for a “modest” increase that would see the adult PRESTO fare rise from $3.30 to $3.40 with an additional 10-cent charge during peak hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. At the same time, Alexander said that he would reduce fares for seniors and youths by 15 cents and cut the cost of a monthly pass for post-secondary students from $128.15 to $120. He is also proposing that the TTC begin offering discounted single-day and weekend passes so adults can get unlimited rides on the system for $9 on a Saturday or Sunday or $15 for the entire weekend. Taken together, Alexander said that the proposed fare changes would add two to four million annual rides to the system and bring in $43 million in new revenue, calling it a “progressive policy” that would get more money “from from those who can afford to pay while giving a break to those who are most vulnerable.” “The system isn’t working. The mayor has neglected it. She has been running it down. Our goal is to fix it. To end the fare evasion, to end the unreliability, to make people feel safe,” Alexander said. In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Chow said that Alexander’s proposal “takes money directly from a family’s household budget” during a time when many are facing increased “economic uncertainty.” “Instead of making the TTC more affordable, Mr. Alexander wants to make it harder for Toronto families to make ends meet each month,” she said. Plainclothes fair enforcement officers needed In addition to the fare increase, Alexander is also promising to crackdown on fare evasion, something that he says could bring in an additional $50 to $60 million in additional revenue. The TTC has previously suggested that it’s losing approximately $124 million per year to fair evasion, accounting for around 12 per cent of its ridership. That is almost double the number contained in a 2018 report, which pegged the total lost to fare evasion at $60 to $70 million. Back then, the TTC estimated that roughly six per cent of riders were skipping out on paying. Alexander said that if elected, he would push to see the number of fare enforcement and provincial offence officers on the TTC “at least doubled.” He said that he would also station plainclothes fare enforcement officers throughout the system. “If you are on the Queen Street streetcar and you poke your head inside and there is no one there in a uniform right now, you can be pretty sure you are not going to get a fine. Anyone who wants to evade fares needs to know that there could be someone not wearing a uniform who is going to hold them to account,” Alexander said. “That is the way you enforce the rules, that is the way you ensure that revenue comes back into the system, a system that has been bleeding revenue and bleeding passengers for far too long.” Alexander pegged the estimated cost of expanding fare enforcement across the TTC at $8 to $10 million a year but suggested the initiative “would pay for itself.” His announcement on Friday afternoon came as Olivia Chow announced a new endorsement on social media. In a video shared on social media, Automotive Parts Manufactures’ Association President Flavio Volpe said that Chow is “willing to make tough decisions” but also “willing to work with other levels of government without ego.” In a statement, Chow’s campaign said the endorsement “reflects the growing confidence of Toronto’s business and industrial sector” in her leadership. Fellow mayoral opponent Brad Bradford did not have any formal campaign announcements on Union Station but did release a video on social media outlining a previous proposal to bring a police substation to Union Station. “For many it is the front door to our city. But these days, it feels dirtier, neglected and less safe. We need to change it because families, workers and visitors deserve a better welcome,” Bradford said of the downtown transit hub. Torontonians head to the polls on Oct. 26.
