Rainforest
Senior Member
Those lines are NOT profitable to TTC. TTC accounting staff has never actually said they are. You'll notice when TTC calculated cost per streetcar/bus route (both cap+op) the subway lines were always missing from those reports.
They do (probably) run an operational profit but only if you subsidize the feeder bus service; walkins don't do it. I wouldn't call a grocery store profitable if it required government subsidies from their upstream suppliers.
Also, a huge chunk of TTCs SOGR capital renewal program would, for most transit organizations, be considered operations; things like escalator and tunnel wall maintenance. Once you add capital into the mix, TTC subway lines almost certainly require an widely varying annual subsidy even with the feeder buses taking the brunt of the operations subsidy load.
Both Canada and Ontario run a profit from the TTC (indirect income via income-taxes, business taxes, etc.). I'm less certain that Toronto (municipality) runs an overall profit from TTC operations; but it's citizens probably do.
Ok, thanks for the info.
I read somewhere that the two long subway lines (YUS and BD) actually bring in more in revenues than they consume in operational costs. Certainly, the allocation of revenue is somewhat arbitrary when the riders pay for the whole trip (bus + subway or streetcar + subway). Also, you have a good point about the capital.