How to respond to municipal budget cuts

The City of Toronto faces a $575 million budget shortfall, and is wrestling with cutting programs, increasing taxes, and calls to elminate waste. This impacts the Toronto Transit Commission too.

They have a public consultation page about this, asking for direction. As the Toronto Star says, in "Tough choices for Toronto:"

The Toronto Transit Commission is asking its riders fundamental questions that all Torontonians should consider before a crucial city council vote next month on new municipal taxes.

Along with other information, the TTC wants to know if commuters would rather address the system's financial woes through service cuts, tax increases or higher fares. Ultimately, riders are being asked about the kind of system they want: One that costs more or one that is less expensive but in retreat, with shrinking routes and poorer service

The webpage is interesting, with data comparisons to other transit systems. (Not Washington's, because our numbers re subsidies are even smaller than Toronto's.) This is important. I am not an advocate of increasing fares, but compared to other places, DC's bus fares are lower. Subway rides cost more from far out places here, but not within the city. On the other hand, other systems have system passes that include subway service for a week or a month, and we don't do that. (You can ride the NYC Transit system--buses and subways, not express buses--for $76/month.)

From the webpage:

What can I do?

From August 27 to September 10, we are asking Torontonians what kind of TTC they want — for today, and for the future. You’ll find our survey online, and on buses, streetcars, and subways. We’ll be handing them out in a station or mall near you.

We haven’t abandoned our vision for better transit, but riders have to choose. Will we support our transit system so that it is properly-funded and able to meet riders’ needs, or will we accept a TTC with less and less service? It’s a choice we have to make together.