muller877
Senior Member
I'm just gonna leave this here.
Metrolinx ponders fare integration. Badly. Incompetently.
http://stevemunro.ca/2016/02/06/metrolinx-fare-integration-get-ready-to-pay-more-for-subway-trips/
We all know Steve Munro insists that he status quo is the way to go. And he states it as a fact at the start. By assuming the status quo is the best way for Toronto it's easy to argue that the solutions proposed are all wrong.
I thought the Metrolinx slide deck was very will laid out. I would have added a fourth option. Adding a zoned-based local fare for longer trips (which Steve Munro did raise...BRT, express or longer trips should not be "local").
Looking at Alternative 3 (the one we all expect them to implement) it becomes a very good way to integrate all the transit networks. RER vs GO vs subway for medium length trips (e.g. Kipling) will be the same. And a local bus from Kipling to your destination is a small incremental cost...nothing outrageous like it is now if you take the Mississauga bus.
The province does have to figure out how to cross-subsidize (and I hope they don't use this to gouge the consumer). It may mean that there is a regional property tax levy based on the MPAC assessment and some cities will win and others lose based on the current assessment value going towards transit. And there will be higher costs for longer distances within Toronto (and lower costs for shorter). But I think people would understand it other than a few outspoken advocates. (hey I take the subway for 20 km and you take a streetcar for 2 km. I think we should pay exactly the same fare and it's wrong foe me to pay anything different!)
The next phase (rush hour pricing) will be more interesting.