Part-time students could lose TTC discount

Part-time students in Toronto could lose their eligibility for discounted transit fares, if city council approves a recommendation from the Toronto Transit Commission. While the TTC extended the discount to private career college students, who were previously excluded, in December, a review of the program concluded that losses on the discount were too high and that ridership gains were "negligible." To mitigate the cost associated with permitting students attending private colleges to access discounted fares, the commission is now recommending that beginning July 31 that part-time students lose their eligibility. A transit spokesmen told the Toronto Star that "the TTC (staff report) is only looking at it from a budgetary point of view, given the budget pressures the TTC currently has, as opposed to any other issue like ability to pay."