Transit group TTCriders will be handing out postcards to fellow riders on over-crowded routes to protest proposed service cuts.
The effort, dubbed the ‘Day of Action,’ comes ahead of a city council vote on the 2017 budget, which is expected to be finalized next month.
The group hopes to convince Mayor John Tory and the provincial government to provide more funding to transit services instead of cutting back on routes and service.
“We’re asking them to contact their counsellor and tell their counsellor that we need no overcrowding, stop the overcrowding, and we need to stop the service cuts that are happening across the city,” TTCriders executive director Jessica Bell told CP24 on Monday morning.
“We know that a quarter of all TTC routes are overcrowded and that’s not okay. We’re sick of the delays, we’re sick of being uncomfortable, the city needs to find the money in this budget cycle and properly fund the TTC so we can get where we want to go with dignity.”
TTCriders members will be canvassing at 14 different TTC locations today, including Bathurst, Broadview and Warden stations, as well on the 29 Dufferin and 75 Sherbourne routes.
Back in November, the TTC board approved a fare increase for 2017 in an effort to reduce its budget without cutting service for riders.
The fare hike is expected to bring in an extra $27 million and, along with a list of other proposed measures, would reduce the TTC’s overall shortfall to $61 million.
But Bell says service is still at risk as the TTC aims to shrink its own $231 million budget shortfall.
“We’re seeing up to 67 routes facing overcrowding and service cuts and that’s unacceptable. People want better service, they’re sick of the delays, they’re sick of the cuts and they want city council to take action," she said.
“That’s what we want. John Tory, if you can find the money, great. Kathleen Wynne, if you can find the money, great. We just want to get better service.”
