Freedom Rides Transit With Unlimited Transfers

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."