The TTC historically has priced its passes so that you break even if and only if you take more than 10 trips a week. Somebody who lives in the inner suburbs who uses TTC Monday to Friday but uses a car on the weekends might buy a pass for convenience, but subsudizes the TTC. (There was also a discounted pass model which was offered through employers which made a 10-trip-a-week model attractive, but it involved committing for a year .... which meant that you'd be buying a pass for months when you were on vacation.)
Passes made more sense back when every trip was a new fare. With the two-hour model they have now, the number of extra trips a week, which a pass made possible without extra cost, has dropped precipitously. The TTC seems to have been backed kicking and screaming into the model by the fact that the attempt to model the old transfer system (predictably) ran into implementation issues. (I wouldn't have wanted to program it to allow for handling all the edge conditions, especially when a bus or streetcar is rerouted.)
What they do with Presto is equally revealing. The GO has simple limit: if you go over N trips on a given line, further trips on that line are free for the rest of the month. The limit corresponds to the old pass cost. The TTC has explicitly refused to follow this model.
There are good climate-related policy reasons for extending transit regardless of the drop in ridership. (Part of that drop is not WFH but people taking cars.) I don't expect enlightenment from the Ford government, but subways are something in which Ford has a lot of ego invested, which may do as much to preserve the relief line.
(We're seeing evidence in polls that people are becoming actively angry with the wilfully unvaccinated, especially where their presence leads to stricter protocols being enforced. The Ford government is currently anti-mandate but I don't think that will last under public pressure.)
no subject
Passes made more sense back when every trip was a new fare. With the two-hour model they have now, the number of extra trips a week, which a pass made possible without extra cost, has dropped precipitously. The TTC seems to have been backed kicking and screaming into the model by the fact that the attempt to model the old transfer system (predictably) ran into implementation issues. (I wouldn't have wanted to program it to allow for handling all the edge conditions, especially when a bus or streetcar is rerouted.)
What they do with Presto is equally revealing. The GO has simple limit: if you go over N trips on a given line, further trips on that line are free for the rest of the month. The limit corresponds to the old pass cost. The TTC has explicitly refused to follow this model.
There are good climate-related policy reasons for extending transit regardless of the drop in ridership. (Part of that drop is not WFH but people taking cars.) I don't expect enlightenment from the Ford government, but subways are something in which Ford has a lot of ego invested, which may do as much to preserve the relief line.
(We're seeing evidence in polls that people are becoming actively angry with the wilfully unvaccinated, especially where their presence leads to stricter protocols being enforced. The Ford government is currently anti-mandate but I don't think that will last under public pressure.)