Breaking News: TTC Fare Capping Starts Tomorrow; FREE Rides After 47 Trips
As of September 1, 2026, TTC riders will see a significant change in how they pay for transit, bidding farewell to most monthly passes. The new fare-capping system will allow riders to pay for their first 47 trips in a month, after which all additional rides will be free. This replaces the standard monthly pass that costs $156.
While 12-month passes and post-secondary passes costing $143 and $128.15 respectively will still be available, adult, youth, senior, and Fair Pass monthly passes will be discontinued.
Initial savings for current monthly pass users will be minimal. With the regular fare set at $3.30, 47 rides will total just over $155 before the free rides begin. However, the fare capping will address an issue created by the Ford government’s One Fare program, which requires riders to pay a second fare when transferring between different GTA transit networks. Under the new fare-capping system, TTC will deduct the fare from the total when switching networks.
Mayor Olivia Chow has indicated that if she is reelected in the upcoming October contest, she plans to lower the threshold to 40 rides in 2027. This adjustment would mean that a commuter who uses the TTC for daily round trips to work would easily reach the 40-trip mark, making all subsequent rides free.
An August 2025 TTC analysis projected that the 47-ride monthly fare-capping system would reduce TTC fare revenue by $10 million while attracting an additional 3.6 million riders. In contrast, the proposed 40-ride system could lead to a $35 million revenue loss but potentially bring in 17 million new riders.
The agency is also exploring replacing the monthly fare-capping model with a weekly cap.
“A weekly cap would allow people to use the transit system more flexibly,” said Andrew Pulsifer, head of TTC riders. “For instance, if you have a particularly busy week followed by a week of work from home, you will benefit from that flexibility.”
Coun. Alejandra Bravo (Davenport), who serves on the TTC board, noted that this change could help attract “periodic” riders.
Monthly fare capping is becoming increasingly rare in transit systems worldwide. Mississauga’s MiWay has a weekly system that lets riders pay for the first 11 rides, while Ottawa’s OC Transpo offers both daily and monthly caps. York Region Transit employs a monthly cap, and GO Transit uses a tiered discount system where trips 35 to 40 are heavily discounted, with anything above 40 being free.
This change comes just under two months before the October 26 election.
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