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Toronto Transit Commission considering refunds for rider delays
Users of Toronto transit may soon be compensated if they are left waiting too long for their ride.
On Wednesday, Toronto City Council voted to explore the possibility of refunding TTC riders if they are delayed 15 minutes or longer.
The motion was proposed by Councillor Brad Bradford.
Bradford intended his proposed measure to be a full money-back guarantee, but council voted to amend the proposal. Now, the TTC Board will “evaluate and consider” how a refund program could work.
Transit riders deserve better than what they are getting today, Bradford said during the council discussion.
“We’ve all had the experience when … you go down into the subway, and then the subway’s not running. And people amass on the platform, and it gets increasingly crowded and increasingly uncomfortable. You’re looking around for an information update, and it’s always a question of how long am I going to stay here waiting before I head up to the surface and then, elbows up, try to compete with everybody to get jammed on a bus?”
When somebody is paying for a service, said Bradford, that service “ought to be delivered.”
Other cities such as London, Philadelphia and Washington D.C . already offer refunds to commuters who experience significant delays. Back in the Toronto region, the GO Transit system has also implemented a similar policy.
Meanwhile, said Bradford, the TTC collects two thirds of its revenue from the fare box, but ridership still hasn’t returned to pre-covid 19 levels. “Fare box revenue is really important. So we need to get people back to transit.”
The council vote came amid rider complaints about slow and delayed service on a newly opened light rapid transit line in the northern part of the city.
Toronto engineer Asha Asvathaman recently launched a website called TTC Delay Insights, aiming to bridge the gap between TTC data and commuters by exploring patterns and station stats and highlighting problematic hotspots.
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