A provincial plan to slash the cost of riding GO Transit within the City of Toronto will help to “relieve congestion” on overcrowded subway lines while also making transit more affordable for residents, Mayor John Tory says.
Tory made the comment during a news conference held to provide further details about the plan, which was included in last week’s provincial budget.
Once put into effect in early 2019, all GO Transit and Union-Pearson Express trips within city boundaries will be reduced to $3 for Presto card holders, which is identical to the cost of riding the TTC.
Currently the cost of taking GO Transit to Union Station ranges from $5.30 at Bloor Go Station to as much as $7.20 at Rouge Hill GO Station.
“I know all too well the frustration of riders who have to wait on overcrowded platforms and ride on overcrowded trains and for that matter wait while several trains pass by,” Tory said. “By making the GO system more affordable in Toronto we can proudly say that relief for transit riders is on the way. People will have a choice now to get downtown or to get to other places and we expect that many people will now choose GO trains, which will in turn provide earlier much needed relief beyond the relief that will ultimately be provided by the transit projects that we are working on.”
In addition to reducing the cost of riding GO Transit within the City of Toronto, the province is also slashing fares to just $3 riders for riders travelling 10 kilometres or less elsewhere on the system.
Speaking with reporters at the Willowbrook Maintenance Yard, Tory said that the fare discount is “a very, very significant initiative” both for the affordability of getting around in general as well as the future success of SmartTrack, which will see six additional stations built along existing GO train lines that run through the city.
“One of the key elements of SmartTrack always was that it costs the same as a TTC fare and this announcement is an important part of getting to that end,” he said.
The cost of reducing GO Transit fares within the city is being partly paid for with proceeds from Ontario's cap and trade program.
In addition to the introduction of a flat $3 fare for trips within the City of Toronto or under 10 kilometres, the province is also reducing fares to between $3 and $6 for all trips between 10 and 20 kilometres.
“There are some who are saying we are doing too much,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said during the press conference. “They would have us pull back, even though families are telling us right now that they need us to do more. They need us to step up and do exactly the kinds of thing that we are doing today with this announcement.”
