Freedom of Movement
Some people already have free transit in Toronto. How can we make it work for the rest of us?
When I ran for mayor, I proposed eliminating mandatory fares for TTC as part of my platform. But for me, free public transit isn’t just a campaign issue, it is about the freedom of mobility I believe we all deserve to have within our cities, and its importance goes far beyond election day. And I know we can have it, if enough of us truly want it.
When the topic of free transit is raised, the first question that comes up is how? How will |we pay for transit operators, transit vehicles, and infrastructure if we don’t have money in the fare box? Yet that is actually the easiest to answer, since how to pay is simply a practical matter. There are many examples around the world of how to implement fare free transit. But we won’t be able to consider those examples thoughtfully until we have considered the reasons why. So rather than focussing on the how, let’s start with the why. Once we’re in agreement that free transit is a good thing, we can work together on the how.
Before we even get to the why - which is a list of the benefits that free transit has to offer - I want to address the fear that prevents us from even considering those benefits. Mention free transit and fears often come up over massive service cuts at the TTC or big property tax hikes to make up for lost fare box revenue. Such fears don’t have to prevent the discussion of whether it’s a good idea. In fact, we could all agree on fare free transit, and then still not do it if we couldn’t figure out how to avoid such hazards. But if we agreed with the concept in principle, we’d be a step ahead of where we are now because we’d be past the mental hurdle of seeing free transit as impossible or unimportant.
Rest assured that no one, least of all me, wants a fare free transit system that will drive the TTC into the ground. Nor am I, as a property owner, interested in a massive increase in property taxes - I have no desire to send vast wads of money into the black hole that is currently our city budget.
I think we can agree that any transit funding model should be fair, effective, and implemented in a way that improves service and freedom of movement, without creating an excessive financial burden on anyone (the way fares do right now on the poor).
And we should also be clear by what is meant by free transit. I don’t have a preferred model of how free transit should work. But I know what freedom of movement looks like to me. It looks like zero barricades to entry to public transit - no more bottleneck turnstiles or line-ups to get on the bus. And it looks like an environment where all TTC personnel are paid to assist riders and improve service, instead of enforce fare payment. We would no longer have roving security guards whose role is to crack down on riders who don’t have proof of payment, nor would we have regular conflicts involving at best workplace stress or at worse violence for fare operators trying to do their jobs to collect fares from riders who are unwilling or unable to pay.
And now we come to the why of free transit. With no fare barriers to use of public transit, our city would become more affordable for the countless workers keeping this city running for whom transit fares are a significant chunk of their income. It would be more equitable for those in poverty who can’t afford to ride transit to the hospital or a job interview. It would be more enjoyable for tourists who could travel freely to explore the best Toronto has to offer. There would be less financial stress for parents as they take their kids to daycare or after school activities. There would be less isolation for older adults who wouldn’t have to shell out their meagre fixed income on social visits or recreational outing. The feeling of community would be strengthened as people come together as they travel, rather than being isolated from each other in private cars or worse, stuck at home because they can’t afford to travel or don’t want to use Presto. And finally, the increased transit use that results from a thriving system would allow our city the benefits from the decreased energy use, pollution, waste, road maintenance and road deaths that come with more people choosing transit than the private automobile. To me, it simply doesn’t make sense to put a barrier in front of a mode of transportation that has all the incredible benefits for our city that public transit has.
I’m convinced of the why, so I’m moving on to my own how. How to we get free transit in our city? I’m not the mayor, so I can’t begin the process from above that could make free transit possible. But luckily for us all, we residents have more power than we think. Our political leaders and our government are there to serve us - whether they know it or not - and we can start acting like we are the boss anytime we want.
In fact, we are actually further along on the road to free transit than we may think. As I state in my title, we already have free transit in this city. Next time you take transit, look around you and notice how many people are paying. Those who aren’t paying are in the minority, but they are there. And try also to find enforcement efforts - they are few and far between and it appears enforcement was markedly reduced during the years where ridership dramatically dropped because of viral fears, office closures and the loss of small business.
Under a voluntary or no fare transit system, all of us would be able to get free transit. Right now, only the “fare evaders” have it. So let’s reconsider fare evasion. Are fare evaders criminals? Or are they (knowingly or unknowingly) political crusaders ushering in an era of change? In Sweden there is a group called planka.nu (there name is also a website which Google will helpfully translate it into English for you) that is deliberately using fare evasion as a political strategy, and it’s been slowly but surely paying off. Should we residents of Toronto consider using fare evasion as a political action? What might happen if we all simply stopped paying our fares?
Well, our administration would no longer be able to ignore our funding deficit. Right now, our TTC is suffering on a number of fronts, and continuing with the status quo is not fixing them. We could save money and improve service by making our transit routes more competitive to the private car - and not with more multi year multi billion dollar construction projects whose benefits take years to realize even as costs mount - but with nimble and immediate transit priority lanes like the King streetcar has on a short stretch downtown. We could create a sustainable, fully transparent funding model so that we can afford both the infrastructure and the transit staffing levels to keep the system efficient and safe. We need these things whether or not we proceed with free transit. But free transit would actually force us to take action rather trying to fix our ailing budget with ever higher fares or cutting service, or both.
So our city has three choices. One, do we keep turning a blind eye to fare evasion while plugging holes in the leaky dike that is our transit budget? This is the status quo. Two, do we ramp up enforcement efforts with all the conflicts, penalization of the poor and administrative costs that will represent - which still won’t solve our budget woes? Or three, do we change the funding paradigm entirely so that we take down the barriers to movement and create a healthier transit system - and therefore a healthier city - with freedom of movement for all of us - not just the “fare evaders”.
If you’re interested in talking to me about direct action, get in touch. Maybe a city wide petition could encourage action. Or what if we had city wide free transit days - where most or all residents simply didn’t pay? Or started a membership collective like planka.nu? If you have any ideas on how to galvanize people, get in touch - I can’t do this alone, but I don’t think it would take that many people working collectively to make a significant shift. Or maybe you have your own idea on how to create the freedom of mobility that doesn’t involve free transit at all. Whatever it is, as always, I invite your ideas and solutions. Until we meet again, happy travels!
I'd love free transit! Or some sort of option where you don't need to pay per ride or a pass ahead of time because you pay what you used at the end of the month (already in process/happening like Moovit in Israel).
An adjacent angle I want to offer is around instant gratification and waiting. I personally walk or use TTC in midtown and choose where I live specifically around (among other criteria) the availability and closeness of at least 1 bus route. I use google maps and their texting system to see when the next bus is, and am lucky/aware that I'm able to mentally and socially plan my time around this flexibility. I have time-based anxiety and have found it helpful to do something enjoyable while waiting, and acknowledging and accepting that there may be a wait, and being willing to wait for the next bus/not rush. Obviously this is an individual answer/solution to a systemic problem and won't work, AND a mental reframe/thought shift around the amazingness of public transit can be an important tool to use as well. What if taking the bus or subway was an exciting adventure or relaxing time? It already is for a lot of people. We can use some science here to make public transit more of a default and reward/positive experience and address larger issues of traffic as well.. Another stream of consciousness around this is that time urgency is a white supremacist tenent so a potential health promotion campaign for thoughtwork is a potential...
Interesting thoughts. The very little I use TTC (almost always opting for biking or walking) has left me with the impression of a very broken system. No one who has other options wants to use it, free or otherwise. I don't know that there's any research to suggest making it free would decrease vehicle use. It also certainly wouldn't reduce bus line ups. I like the idea of more transit priority routes, like downtown King St., but even that would have to be done in conjunction with improving service or it wouldn't impact ridership. At least with a paid system there is some motivation to improve it so more people will use it. I fear that a free system would just entrench and worsen the problems (rather like our broken health care system and increasing wait times). I think improvement needs to come before fare removal - or at the very least, hand in hand.