Last Friday the
board that oversees GO Transit voted to raise fares, to take effect
March 18. No matter how long your trip is, the price will rise a
flat 25 cents for an adult one-way fare, $2.50 for a 10-ride ticket
or $10 for a monthly pass.
GO Transit
chair Peter Smith tells In Transit that about 15 cent of the 25 cent
hike simply covers the inflationary costs of access to CN and CP
railway train crews and tracks, as well as “our increased costs of
maintenance, the increase in general utilities, snow and ice
clearing, taxes, insurance, an increase in (Highway) 407ETR tolls
and the increased fees we have to pay to local transit systems to
allow passengers to transfer to GO at a discount.
“Ten cents of
the 25 cent increase purely goes to the increased costs of diesel
fuel that we’re anticipating encountering this year.” When energy
prices were very high last fall, GO considered adding a fuel
surcharge to ticket prices. Smith says “the board decided to not do
that, but to find operational savings by delaying hiring of staff
and so forth. We can’t do that this year.
“As I said to
the board on Friday, we can choose to either put this fare increase
through, or we can choose to cut services -- and we don’t want to
cut services.”
Why does GO
raise fares at a flat rate, instead of tying the increase to
distance travelled? Says Smith, “We felt it was easier for people to
understand. We know it disproportionately affects people very close
to Union Station, but the alternative was to disproportionately
affect those on the outreaches of the GO system, which is where we
are trying to encourage our ridership.”
Ever since the
Government of Ontario created GO Transit in 1967, he says the
philosophy has been “to get riders off the highways. It’s an
interregional transit system, not a local transit system. People
closer to Union Station have other alternatives to GO.”
Toronto Mayor
David Miller is one of several municipal representatives who were
not able to attend Friday’s GO meeting. Asked if there is a better
approach than flat fare hikes, he says “I do think GO needs to take
a look at how to use the service more effectively inside Toronto, to
not just be a suburban service. It could be more of an asset inside
Toronto if we thought more systematically about the fares.”
Miller says the
city is developing its own transportation strategy, including “using
the resources of GO more effectively.” Is the city waiting for the
province to announce its proposed Greater Toronto Transportation
Authority?
“No,” he says,
“we’re working on our own plan, and when it’s more developed we will
start working with our colleagues in the 905, GO and the GTTA, if
it’s set up.”
GO Transit’s
“capital growth” budget was not voted on during Friday’s session.
Chair Smith says it will be discussed at the April 13 board meeting
when more municipal representations may be present.