Toronto's '25 Budget Freezes Fares, Increases Frequencies, Safety

The $2.8-billion combined operating budgets for both the TTC conventional system and Wheel-Trans represent a 6.5% increase over the approved 2024 budgets and ensures safe, reliable, and affordable service for TTC customers.

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January 13, 2025

Toronto's '25 Budget Freezes Fares, Increases Frequencies, Safety — The TTC's recommended 2025-2034 Capital Budget and Plan of $16.395 billion is $5.1 billion higher than last year's Capital Budget and, represents the largest funding increase since 2019.
**Photo: TTC**

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The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) board approved its 2025 operating and capital budgets that freezes fares for the second straight year, adds the most service in a decade, improves system safety and cleanliness, and invests more than $16 billion in long-term capital projects.

2025 TTC Budget Highlights

Highlights of the 2025 budget:

Freezes TTC fares at 2023 prices.
Allocates $33 million to preserve and build on service increases made in 2024 and address rising demand on weekends and evenings, as well as challenges posed by road congestion. The overall increased service hours will match pre-pandemic levels.
Increases Wheel-Trans funding by $14.2 million to meet the rising demand.
Establishes a pilot project on 11 routes across the city to reduce bunching and gapping of vehicles in real-time through enhanced on-street route management.
Funds operating and maintenance costs for the opening of Lines 5 and 6 in 2025 as well as full-year operations on the Line 3 SRT bus replacement service.
Creates a new subway stations management pilot program to add more staff and improve cleanliness at six priority locations (Scarborough Town Centre bus terminal, and Kennedy, Dundas, Finch, Spadina, and Lansdowne stations).

"I want to thank our Board and Mayor Chow for supporting considerable investments in our operations and long-term projects," said TTC CEO Greg Percy. "Bringing more customers to the TTC requires a system that is safe, reliable, and affordable, and these budgets accomplish that."

The additional investments reduce the TTC's SOGR funding backlog by almost 50% from $8.2 billion by 2033 to a projected $4.3 billion over the next 10 years.
**Photo: TTC**

Budget Increase

The recommended 2025-2034 Capital Budget and Plan of $16.395 billion is $5.1 billion higher than last year's Capital Budget and, represents the largest funding increase since 2019.

Almost $4.9 billion of the increase is dedicated to crucial unfunded state-of-good-repair (SOGR) work, such as track safety and reduced speed zones and projects to make all stations accessible.

The additional investments reduce the TTC's SOGR funding backlog by almost 50% from $8.2 billion by 2033 to a projected $4.3 billion over the next 10 years.

Highlights include:

55 replacement subway trains on Line 2 with the recently announced $1.5 billion matching Federal and Provincial funding ($2.3 billion total project cost).
Investments in approximately 700 eBuses and 950 charging systems totaling $1.2 billion over the next five years, with a total project cost of approximately $2.4 billion.
Bus, Streetcar, and Subway fleet overhaul programs directly resulting from the $500 million funding provided through the city’s reallocation of the Gardiner/DVP funding.
Targeted station/transit priority investments of $15 million over 2025 and 2026 to improve station conditions and aesthetics; to pilot a public address system upgrade and station lighting LED retrofit at six key stations and install red paint treatment on existing city roads, intersections and TTC stations to improve transit priority and safety and support fare compliance at station entrances.