With regard to the suburban systems, it's kind of insane the difference between Toronto and, say, New York. A person living in Richmond Hill going to the downtown core would pay something like $7 for a YRT ride and then a TTC ride. A person living in Westchester or Long Island would pay only...

It did, until 2013. But every system would have its unique fare structures. The point, I think, is to use the example fares cited to point out the overall trend, which is that the TTC is really expensive. So when people like Ford deny new revenue streams or demand the riders pay more (Ford...

Yes, the article (at the bottom) makes specific note of YRT as probably the most expensive suburban transit system and links to those exact fares. But the author makes a point that this is about big cities with CBD's and rail lines and fully integrated transit, not suburban systems. Still...

The 2014 update is out: http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/01/are_ttc_fares_still_the_priciest_in_north_america/