Free rides after 47 trips a month. Is fare capping the right idea?

For the first time in years, riding the TTC has a ceiling. The 2026 operating budget, $3 billion and approved by the board and the city, introduced fare capping: tap with PRESTO or a card, and after 47 trips in a calendar month the rest are free, with the cap set to fall to 40 in 2027. Fares themselves are frozen for a third year. Service hours go up two per cent, and the budget managed all of that without cuts.

The catch is the ledger. The TTC asked the city for $1.48 billion, up nearly seven per cent; passenger revenue came in $50 million under projection last year; and ridership growth, which had been climbing since 2022, has plateaued at around 426 million rides a year. Staff blamed a weak job market and return-to-office mandates that never delivered the crowds. The National Observer priced the freeze-and-capping strategy at $1.5 billion over the coming years.

Fare capping is a policy about who the system is for. Whether a city that cannot fund the buses it has should also be giving away the 48th ride is the question.

Sources: NOW Toronto, the board approves fare capping and a freeze · CBC, the TTC asks the city for more · National Observer, the $1.5-billion price of the freeze · Steve Munro, the 2026 operating budget