A two-year-old policy that allows children to ride the TTC for free has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of kids hopping on board buses, subways and streetcars, Mayor John Tory has announced.
Since 1 March, 2015, the TTC has allowed children 12 years of age and under to ride the TTC for free.
At the time that the policy was put into place, the TTC said that it would cost about $8 million in lost revenue per year.
Tory, however, told reporters on Wednesday that the cost has been well worth it, given the significant increase in children now able to ride the TTC. He said that in 2014, there were approximately 11 million rides on the TTC by children 12 years of age and under. In 2015, that number jumped to 13 million and in 2016 it hit 22 million.
“This is evidence of the fact that we are not only helping families to go places they couldn’t go before, and helping classes of schools kids go places they couldn’t go before but we are also, I hope, developing a new generation of transit users who will think first of using transit to get around the city,” Tory said. “As we build the transit we are so determined to build there will be users who want to use it and who will make it their first choice to get around the city.”
Tory said that the TTC is estimating that the number of rides involving children will rise again this year to a record 28 million.
He said the policy is saving families “hundreds of dollars a year” and accomplishing its stated goal in helping those who are struggling.
“This has been especially important to low income families who often spend an extraordinarily high percentages of their income on public transportation,” he said. “Families shouldn’t have to choose between paying for transit and getting their kids to school in a proper manner. It shouldn’t be a choice.”
The data on the number of rides taken by children is the result of a TTC survey, which studied approximately 200,000 rides taken on the transit system.
