The TTC bylaws regarding the use of transfers are Draconian, nonsensical and business unfriendly.

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 12:21:59PM -0400, Evan Leibovitch wrote:
> That's more a matter of crossing a municipal boundary, a jurisdictional
> issue than merely distance travelled.
> The TTC has multiple routes north that cross Steeles and collect another
> fare at that point. That's because the TTC, north of Steeles, is
> essentially a contractor of York Region Transit and must collect fares on
> their behalf. (I believe that YRT fares and transfers are accepted on TTC
> buses north of Steeles).

They are, but of course if you use Presto in YRT, then you have no way
to transfer to a TTC bus in york region because the TTC busses are not
equiped to accept presto and hence can't tell you have already paid for
your 2 hour fare.

> In fact, since TTC fares are less than YRT, a token alone isn't enough for
> travel north of Steeles, you have to add 20 cents.

Hmm, when did they get out of sync?  They used to be the same amount.

> I can't speak for BC Transit. but from Finch Avenue it costs more to get to
> Highway 7 than to go downtown because of the border crossing.

Actually if you take a YRT bus from finch you only pay york region fare
to go from finch to highway 7.  YRT busses can't drop you off while
heading north into york region and they can't pick you up south of
steeles while heading into Toronto but they don't charge an extra fare
to get you there (of course you also can't transfer to a TTC bus, so
you would be paying the extra fare when you do that).  TTC busses also
go much further north of steeles than YRT busses go south.

> There is also a single bus that links Lawrence West station with Westwood
> Mall in Missisauga, and west of the airport the TTC acts as a Mississauga
> Transit bus.
>  http://www.ttc.ca/Fares_and_passes/Fare_information/GTA_Zone_Fares.jsp
> 
> It's been in use on GO trains for quite a while.
> 
> In fact, the concept of having "proof of payment" on board, allowing people
> to be able to get on a vehicle through the back doors, and being
> occasionally patrolled by people checking proof and issuing offense notices
> (like parking tickets) for free riders is not new to the TTC. It's been in
> effect on the Queen streetcar for a while.
> http://www.ttc.ca/Fares_and_passes/Fare_information/Proof_of_payment.jsp
> 
> This is the system used in many european transit systems. If you have a
> one-trip ticket, you validate it at the beginning of your trip, at a little
> time-stamp machine on all buses and subway platforms. It separates fare
> collection/enforcement from driving, which is a Good Thing. (Under Toronto
> POP, if you want to use a one-trip fare you still need to go to the front
> and get a transfer which is your 'proof'.)

I think that would be great to have on all TTC routes.  It sure speeds
up transfers and loading/unloading in general.

-- 
Len Sorensen
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