the new year.and by now we've all ranted and raved about it. $2.75 is already too high!! the bus is always late! the streetcar doesn't even come! the subway cars are too full!
it's true. it's all true. for the service provided, the fare is already too high. it's also important in times like these to understand that raising fares doesn't solve the TTC's economic problems, nor will it help stimulate toronto's economy. the last fare hike didn't, and this one won't either.
as if a fare rise isn't bad enough, the TTC has decided that people can only buy tokens five at a time from now on.
apparently people were all like, shit bitch-i better buy tokens at the cheaper price before it gets hiked. fair enough. we live in a free market system where we buy what we want when we want it. you have the money? well then here you go, tokens.
i guess the TTC forgot that. originally they had announced a ten token limit, and by originally i mean friday. so you can buy fiven tokens from all collector booths, and ONE token from token vending machines at auto-entrances. if the collector runs out of tokens, you're paying $2.75 cash fare.
doesn't this kind of seem like a cash grab? like getting "sticky with mickey" from matilda?
we all have stories about the horrible service we get from the TTC. eff uses the numero 26 bus, and it is never on time. like, its twenty minutes late. every day. every morning i get an angry text message from her about how her bus still isn't there and how she's going to be late for work.
i go to york and anyone who goes to york knows how much TTC hate you acquire having to commute there daily. it's a subway AND a bus ride. long line ups, full buses.
quite frankly, york students/staff/faculty who use the TTC are probably spending the most money on TTC of anyone in this city and we get the shittiest service. a $3.00 fare to take the shitty subway to the shitty bus does not sit well with us york people.
schedules aside, the TTC is shitty for other reasons. recently our guest blogger nai wrote about experiencing the lack of physical accessibility on the TTC--a notoriously widespread and unacceptable problem-- not every subway station is wheelchair accessible. how does that even make sense?!
in nai's story, the accessible features of the station were broken and the TTC collector was basically just like: you're shit out of luck. no help, no calling for help, nothing. many TTC collectors are awesome, and nice, and friendly, and probably would carry you up the stairs if you needed it, but this particular collector didn't care and didn't feel it was part of his job description to call about the broken elevator.
that's not $3.00 worth of service, not even close.
so on tuesday, november 17, the TTC will consider a rise in fare which would come into effect on january 3rd. the TTC is a city run service, which means you can write to your city councillor and demand that they not support the fare increase.
go here to find your councillor:
make sure you include your address and postal code in your letter, otherwise they won't have to read it.
also, there is a !
| Date: | Monday, November 16, 2009 |
| Time: | 3:00pm - 9:00pm |
| Location: | City Hall - Nathan Phillips Square |
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