One transit rider sings the praises of an experiment that allows Toronto transit riders a two-hour window of unlimited transfers on the TTC system.
Shawn Micallef writes about the freedom Toronto transit riders have experienced since the TTC system enabled a free two-hour transfer window that allows unlimited use on a single fare in August of 2018.
"While we’re still at the mercy of TTC service, good or bad, the two-hour transfer has been one of the best changes to riding transit in decades," according to Micallef.
While the change has been expensive, costing the system $20.9 million annually by 2020, it's also paid off in new riders. The unlimited transfer window is expected to add 5 million extra trips a year, with 3 million by new riders.
"What the two-hour transfer does is fundamentally change how we can treat the TTC. Before it was linear, a way to get from A to B, and only A to B as you could not leave the system, and just one forward direction per fare was allowed," writes Micallef. "Now riding the TTC means entering a multidirectional system that we can access at any point, opening up the whole city."
FULL STORY: TTC’s two-hour transfer has opened up the whole city
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research