Post-secondary students could see increased fares
By the end of 2016, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) plans to replace the Metropass with the Presto card system. For students, the transition to Presto could mean more higher costs and less convenience than the post-secondary student Metropass.
TTC spokesperson, Danny Nicolson confirmed that by the end of 2016 the entire system will be replaced by Presto and they will stop accepting tickets and tokens within months of that milestone. This rollout in Toronto comes after the Presto card became widely used on the GO Transit regional network including Mississauga and Brampton. Nicolson said the new system to be more convenient for the public as it will help eliminate long line ups at collector booths to buy a monthly Metropass.
“Presto is expensive in terms of students and the current TTC Metropasses and tokens give stability to all the students because they have a chance to just buy it once for a month,” said Gagan Deep, the director of communications and internal at the Student Association of George Brown College, which runs a discounted TTC Metropass program and also funds The Dialog. Deep added that students must not pay more for transportation because they are students who are coming from different parts of Toronto for education.
When asked what will be replacing the current post-secondary Metropass, Nicolson was short on details, “it won’t be a Metropass, but it will be on the Presto card but will still be at a discounted rate that the students are currently paying.” He said that post-secondary students will still have to purchase a Presto card and then register for it as a post-secondary student.
“At the very least if there are going to be changes, it must not affect people who are there in the suburbs, people who are lower income, people who are students, people who depend on the TTC,” said TTC Riders media chair Milan Gokhale. “Anyone who basically depends on the TTC and has no other choice, those people should not be affected by any change in how Presto happens.”
Currently, a post-secondary Metropass costs $112 which works out to around $2.80 per ride for a student, assuming they use the pass twice a day, five days a week. On the other hand, the current Presto fares costs $2.90 per ride which would increase the fare by approximately $14 per month for post-secondary students.
