TTC To Offer Free Fares For Children Under 12 Starting in Spring & Other Changes


TTC-Subway-Toronto

Getting around Toronto with kids is about to become more affordable.

The Mayor of Toronto and TTC Chair made an announcement of new funding to significantly expand and enhance transit service, reduce wait times and crowding, and make using the TTC more affordable for families by eliminating fares for children 12 years and under.

For the rest of us, fares are going up and we should expect a $0.10 increase to the cost of a TTC token/cash fare. The money will be used to make the following improvements:

•    Restoration of all day, everyday bus service that was cut in 2011

•    Ten-minute or better bus and streetcar service on key routes from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. six days a week (9 a.m. on Sundays)

•    Reduced wait times and crowding at off-peak times

•    Reduced wait times and crowding on 21 of the busiest routes during morning and afternoon rush hours

•    Proof-of-payment and all-door boarding on all streetcar routes

•    Expansion of the Express Bus network, adding four new routes to a network that serves 34 million rides annually

•    Expanding the Blue Night Network, adding 12 routes to the 22-route network that serves 4 million rides annually

•    Adding up to two additional subway trains on Lines 1 and 2 during morning and afternoon rush hours

•    Route management improvements designed to reduce short-turns, bunching and gapping of bus and streetcar routes

•    Additional resources to focus on subway reliability around signals, track and communications systems

They are also finally integrating GO fares and TTC fares.  You will be able to buy a sticker for $60 that goes onto your Metropass and use GO to get between Danforth and Exhibition while avoiding the downtown gridlock on the TTC.  I would like to see this go further and have the TTC offer the same discounts to GO commuters using Presto as all of the other cities in the GTA (most cities charge less than $1 when you transfer to/from a GO service), but I guess that won’t be happening any time soon.

Will free rides for children make you use the TTC rather than drive?


6 responses to “TTC To Offer Free Fares For Children Under 12 Starting in Spring & Other Changes”

  1. x says:

    John Tory ruining all of Rob Ford’s good work. What an idiot.

  2. torontogal12 says:

    How about those minimum wage workers who spend nearly an hour’s pay to use the TTC to get to work?

  3. sampler says:

    now is the perfect time to start having kids !

  4. Hannah says:

    Why not give a break to those who are actually going out and working, and having to pay about 30% of what they make into various government benefit programs, instead of paying lip service to families with young children? The fare was already so inexpensive for children to begin with, this seems like an unnecessary expense that everyone without a child under 12 is forced to subsidize.

  5. Jenn says:

    Sorry, but the children fare is low enough, there’s no need to make it free and have the rest pay for it. The children fare in our town has always been much higher than Toronto (almost three times as much), which does not make much sense because you have more service and can go farther on TTC. One adult can travel with three or more kids, now is that really fair? When kids are reaching twelve, it gets harder to tell what age they are really at. It will make it harder for officials to tell if they are below or under twelve, and it will be easier for some over twelve to take advantage. Maybe the age limit should just be adjusted, just like in our town, which is children ages five and under ride for free. It will not get people out of their cars because it doesn’t matter how many children they can have in the car, it will still cost the same. If they want to get people out of their cars, they need to improve their service, which, unfortunately, comes with a cost we all have to carry.

  6. Nana says:

    Now you tell me that after my children grew up and want to apply for their own drivers licence?!
    What about youth students who have to ride or drive to school everyday?

    Not many children ride the TTC bus at a daily basis since most of them go to nearby schools at walking distances. Even if parents decide to take advantage of this offer they have to accompany these children and pay an adult ticket plus an extra 10 cents. It’s just like these attraction tickets where children enter free with an accompanying adult who pays double or triple the price!

    What about the day passes that include children on weekends? Will they be reduced or changed?


















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