Safety and service reminder from the TTC as more students head back to school
Today, as more students return to classrooms for the first time this school year, the TTC can be counted on to deliver safe and reliable service.
"We know with more students heading back to in-person classrooms this week, it will be important for people to know that we are ready to manage the additional challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented," said TTC CEO Rick Leary. "The safety of our customers and employees remains the TTC's top priority and we are continuing to take a number of additional measures to meet this challenge."
To accommodate increased service demand with more students travelling to school, the TTC has taken a number of steps since September. These include:
- Deploying an additional 191 buses to manage anticipated student ridership.
- Communicating with school boards to determine hot spots, student volumes and start and dismissal times.
- Bringing back more than 280 of the 450 employees on temporary layoff to meet rising service demand.
- Adding staff at stations with increased student use to monitor crowding levels and ensure customers are commuting safely.
- Maintaining service flexibility and implementing demand-responsive bus service to supplement scheduled service.
- Continuing distribution of free masks in subway stations and on Wheel-Trans to help ensure customers are not travelling without one.
- Making masks mandatory for all TTC staff on TTC property.
- Continuing enhanced cleaning and disinfection of all public places and vehicles with a focus on touch and grab points, such as buttons, railings, handles and straps.
- Continuing to stock hand sanitizer in every station and on every streetcar and Wheel-Trans vehicle.
Please note: running a demand-responsive service will at times mean that additional TTC vehicles will not appear on real-time schedules or transit apps.
The TTC reminds students and parents of the following:
Face coverings are mandatory while riding TTC vehicles or travelling through TTC stations.
Children 12 and under ride the TTC for free. All other students can pay their TTC fare using several methods of payment, including:
PRESTO single fares
- $2.25 for youth 13-19
- $3.20 for post-secondary students
PRESTO Monthly Pass
- $128.15 for youth 13-19
- $128.15 for post-secondary students
CASH
- $2.30 for youth 13-19
- $3.25 for post-secondary students
All customers are encouraged to use up any remaining tickets or tokens and switch to PRESTO as soon as possible.
Post-secondary students enrolled full-time at an accredited institution in Toronto are eligible for a discounted monthly pass on PRESTO. They will be required to have a TTC post-secondary photo ID in order to set their PRESTO fare type, purchase, and use their post-secondary monthly pass on PRESTO. IDs can be purchased from the TTC Photo ID Centre at Bathurst Station.
The TTC is also reminding riders and road users to follow these important safety tips:
- Drivers: As the streets, sidewalks and crosswalks get busier as more students return to school, please be extra vigilant on the roads. Please yield the right-of-way to TTC vehicles and make sure to slow down and yield to buses as they re-enter traffic after servicing stops, as required by law.
- Pedestrians: Please don't run alongside or in front of a bus or streetcar. It's always safer to wait for the next vehicle, which will be along soon.
- Subway riders: Always stand behind the yellow line on the platform when waiting for a subway train. Never descend to track level for any reason whatsoever. If you drop something, such as your cell phone, leave it and tell a TTC uniformed employee who will make arrangements to retrieve it.
- Streetcar riders: Be sure to check to make certain that traffic has stopped before exiting a streetcar.
- Bus/streetcar riders: When on board, always be sure to stand behind the white line at the front of the vehicle and stand clear of the doors.
- Backpacks: Customers are asked to be mindful of those around them when wearing large backpacks as they can pose safety risk.
For more information about the TTC's back-to-school plans, customers are encouraged to visit www.ttc.ca/Riding_the_TTC/Points_of_interest/back_to_school.jsp.