TTC board approves operating budget that freezes fares at 2023 rates
CBC
The TTC's board has approved a 2024 operating budget for the transit service that freezes fares at this year's rates, the transit agency said on Wednesday.
In a news release, the TTC board said the budget represents a 7.5 per cent increase over the budget approved last year. The $2.6-billion budget covers both conventional and Wheel-Trans services.
According to the board, the budget will enable the TTC to increase service and invest in system safety and cleanliness.
The fares are frozen at 2023 rates in recognition of the impact of current economic conditions on customers, the board said in the release.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the transit agency needs to be properly funded to serve the needs of the city's residents.
"Frequent, safe and affordable transit is something I have committed to supporting for the people of Toronto, and this budget makes improvements in all of those areas," Chow said in the release.
TTC CEO Rick Leary said customers are returning faster than expected and the transit agency needs to be prepared for next year.
TTC chair Jamaal Myers said the budget will ensure customers and employees are protected.
"I'm confident that with this budget we can start to return transit service to where it was before the pandemic while laying the groundwork for further improvements," Myers said in the release.
The budget also does the following:
The TTC board said it also approved a $12.4-billion 2024-2033 capital budget plan for the transit service.
The capital budget plan does the following:
The Rachel Notley government's consumer carbon tax wound up becoming a weapon the UCP wielded to drum the Alberta NDP out of office. But that levy-and-repayment program, and the wide-ranging "climate leadership plan" around it, also stood as the NDP's boldest, provincial-reputation-altering move in their single-term tenure.