Item - 2026.TTC16.15

The TTC Board:

1. Directed the Chief Executive Officer to investigate, including a jurisdictional review and analysis of ridership growth benefits, implementing weekly fare capping to inform the forthcoming implementation of fare capping, and delegate authority to the Chief Executive Officer to implement a weekly fare cap if deemed suitable based on the assessment and has minimal budget impact.

As noted in the Advancing the 5-Year Fare Policy and 2026-2028 Ridership Growth Strategy: 2026 Budget Considerations Board Reports, fare capping is a pay-as-you-go pricing model that guarantees riders will not pay more than a maximum number of paid trips.

The Strategic Planning Committee considered policy and operational levers to increase ridership and prioritized those which were most cost effective, including discussions of fare capping at weekly and monthly caps. While the Ridership Growth Strategy continues to be refined following the Committee and the Board’s deliberations, the opportunities that arise from a weekly fare cap should be urgently studied before the forthcoming implementation of fare capping to ensure that this Board is maximizing the opportunities to support our goal of attracting new and returning riders to the TTC.

Weekly fare capping provides customers with greater affordability and flexibility by eliminating the need to wait until the end of a calendar month to realize fare savings. Customers will always receive the best available fare, regardless of how frequently they travel from week to week, while avoiding the financial barrier associated with purchasing a monthly pass or waiting to reach a monthly fare cap. Customers travelling across the Toronto boundary will also continue to benefit from the One Fare Program by receiving a free TTC fare when transferring to or from GO Transit or a free transfer when connecting with a neighbouring transit agency through the One Fare Program.

Weekly fare capping is rapidly becoming the industry standard for modernized fare collection, with many transit agencies across the Greater Toronto Area (including Brampton, MiWay and Hamilton) and major international transit systems (including London, UK, and Los Angeles, and New York, USA) having implemented weekly fare capping. For the TTC, weekly fare capping represents a more customer-focused approach that supports ridership growth by delivering fare savings sooner. It also builds on existing tested technology, and has been previously endorsed by the Board. This merits urgent consideration.

Benefits to customers include:

• Rewarding frequent riders (free trips after cap) and infrequent riders (no commitment)
• Incentivizing transit as a travel mode of choice
• Making transit more simple and affordable: no upfront pass needed or worry about overpaying
• Improving access to One Fare Program for cross-boundary trips

From a rider perspective, no action is required beyond continuing to tap; fare capping simply changes the pricing logic once the weekly cap is reached.