Protesters angry after debate on low-income transit passes delayed again

Dozens of people filled the Toronto City Hall rotunda on Wednesday, calling for reduced fare passes for low-income riders.

In 2014, city council voted to develop a low-income transit policy, with a report to be presented in 2015.

The report was supposed to be presented to the executive committee on Wednesday but has been pushed over until December.

Advocates say they are frustrated at the contact delays and want council to make this a priority.

“The report was actually due last year. Then was held over until May of this year, then September, then October’s meeting, and now we’re being told again it’s being held over once again,” Karin Meinzer with the Fair Fare Coalition explained.

“We know that we need this kind of thing in Toronto. That many many people can’t afford to ride the TTC at the prices that are set today. We need that kind of a pass now and we want them to make it a priority.”

Those at the rally, who include advocates for seniors, students and those struggling to survive on low incomes, want free transit for commuters on social assistance, as well as substantially lower monthly pass prices for other low-income groups.

Sanjeevan Magulananthan works as a teaching assistant in the adult education program at the Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf and said many people in their program come in from Markham or Mississauga and spend as much as $15 a day on transit.

“We feel that the city must discount metropasses for individuals. We feel the cost should be approximately $50 or at the very least, a generous discount, and we feel this should be standard to individuals who struggle and I’m begging the city to do that,” he told the crowd gathered at the rotunda.

“It’s not just students. It’s seniors. It’s children. We all need to be treated equally and we need to be able to pay what we can afford.”

Mayor John Tory said until Presto is fully functional and implemented, he doesn’t think anything should be done.

“It is simply not practical or possible … to implement some kind of a program across the board like this, until such time when you have a card where it can be done based on programming of that card as opposed to having people lined up,” said Tory.

“What are we going to have them do — line up and show their tax return? It’s not practical.”

Mississauga is currently conducting a pilot project to test the waters for offering a low-income transit pass.

The program subsidizes the cost of adult and senior monthly passes by 50 per cent for Mississauga residents that fall within the Low Income Measure thresholds according to household income.

However, according to the Toronto Star the program is struggling to attract subscribers.

The pilot will run from June 1, 2016, to Feb. 28, 2017.

Earlier this month, Ottawa mayor Jim Watson announced a low-income transit pass for the city’s OC Transpo starting in 2017.

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