Item - 2020.DI11.11

The Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council request the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to present an update on the suspension of the Fare Pass Transit Discount Program to the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee no later than the end of the first quarter of 2021.

According to an article in the Friday September 25th, 2020 edition of the Toronto Star, the City of Toronto’s Social Development, Finance and Administration Division suspended the Fair Pass Transit Discount Program on March 17th, 2020, leaving vulnerable transit users unable to renew their discounted passes and submit new applications.

As highlighted in the article, City Council approved the Fair Pass Transit Discount Program in 2016 as a transit equity improvement initiative as part of its poverty reduction strategy. The City of Toronto’s Fair Pass Transit Discount Program is available for eligible adult recipients of either the Ontario Disability Support Program, Ontario Works or a City of Toronto Child Care Fee Subsidy. The Fair Pass Transit Discount Program provides a $1.10 discount on a single adult TTC fare and a $32.75 discount on a monthly adult TTC pass.

The suspension of said program is problematic as it amplifies the economic hardship already experienced by persons with disabilities and violates the spirit of Council’s efforts to reduce poverty, especially during the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The fact that no target date has been set for the resumption of the program only heightens the anxiety that exists within the disability community that this program has been permanently terminated.