Updated Feb. 5, 2023 at 6pm: Metrolinx has clarified aspects of the One Fare operation on Presto. See the end of this article for details.
Updated Feb. 5, 2023 at 6:30pm: The TTC has an extensive FAQ page about One Fare.
On February 5, 2024, Ontario announced that it will extend the co-fare arrangements between GO Transit and local municipal transit systems outside of Toronto to the TTC. The branding for this scheme is “One Fare”.
As of February 26, any trip including GO Transit will be discounted by the removal of local transit fares at either end of the journey. Trips beginning or ending on a local system will only pay the GO Transit fare.
Trips using only local systems (such as TTC+Miway) will pay the local fare on the system where they begin, but will transfer free onto any connecting system.
This arrangement corresponds to “Option A” in the Metrolinx Initial Business Case Final Report detailed in a previous article here.
Timed transfers will be valid for 2 hours for trips starting on a local system, and for 3 hours for trips starting on GO Transit. The Metrolinx announcement is not clear about whether a trip beginning on local systems but shifting to GO gets the expanded 3 hour window from paying a GO fare. In effect, does the tap on to GO “top up” the remaining transfer time with an extra hour, or does starting on a local bus fix the transfer window at two hours. I have asked Metrolinx for a clarification.
Update: See the end of the article for further information on the transfer window.
The new fare scheme will be funded by Ontario and local systems will be reimbursed for the foregone fare revenue. The anticipated ridership growth is about 8 million per year.
The anticipated saving for riders, on average, is $1,600 per year. That corresponds roughly to two local transit fares per weekday.
There will be no change in fare payment procedures. Riders will only tap on to the local systems, but must tap on and off for the GO Transit portion of the ride where the fare is distance based.
The provincial press release states “The government will continue to work with municipal partners to identify opportunities to make transit more seamless for riders by harmonizing discounted fares and other measures.” What this will actually entail remains to be seen.
Update: Metrolinx Clarifies One Fare Issues
The following responses were provided by Metrolinx in response to my queries.
On transfer windows:
The initial two-hour window begins when the customer first taps onto the local transit service. When a transit rider transfers and taps onto GO Transit, a new three-hour window begins. For example, a customer who takes an HSR bus (local transit) and then transfers to GO Transit starts with a two-hour window upon their first tap on the HSR bus. When they tap onto GO Transit, a new three-hour window begins.
On the monthly pass:
PRESTO transit passes for TTC, Brampton Transit, Durham Region Transit, MiWay and York Region Transit are eligible under Ontario’s One Fare Program. Please note, customers transferring to GO Transit using a transit pass will not receive any additional discount using a transit pass.
On concession fares:
Customers also benefit from concession fares through Ontario’s One Fare program because the second fare is always free on local transit, or reduced on GO Transit. For example, in the case of a senior, if the customer begins their journey on the TTC and they transfer to YRT, they pay only $2.25 (the TTC fare) because the second fare is free on local transit. This saves them $2.40 on the trip. On a TTC to GO Transit trip, in the case of a senior, the GO fare would be reduced.
Metrolinx Media Relations Email of Feb. 5/24
It is possible that the GO Transit fare is less than a TTC fare, for example for a short GO trip by a senior where the TTC fare is $2.25 and the GO fare (using Union to Long Branch as an example) is only $2.13.
The TTC FAQ clarifies that the UP Express is not part of One Fare due to technical constraints. It is not clear when or if this will be fixed.
Thanks to reader Adam Chojecki for providing the link to the TTC page.
Steve Munro 
Dumb question..
What happens if you have a Monthly Pass for the TTC but travel to Pickering Town Centre using TTC/DRT for example?
Will the single fare apply or does it only apply to one-off fares like cash, credit or debit?
Steve: I suspect you would get the DRT ride for free (as you do today), bu there would be no TTC discount. I have asked Metrolinx to clarify this, and will update the article when I have more info.
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This is potentially troubling and unnecessarily complicated. The one-fare should probably be the TTC’s within Toronto to eliminate the need for subsidy payments.
Steve: I have a suspicion we are also seeing the limits of what can easily be implemented within the Presto framework on an anywhere-to-anywhere basis.
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Interesting, but there are some aspects here that might require further work.
As Steve is no doubt aware, senior concession fare on GO is basically half the regular fare. This means that for many trips within Toronto, the GO fare is less expensive than the TTC (senior’s discount) fare.
I happen to know that tapping on at Long Branch station deducts $1.98 or so. (And tapping off at Union charges about an additional $0.16.) So what if tapped at Long Branch GO, then wandered over to Long Branch loop and tapped on a bus or streetcar. Do I get three hours free transfers on the TTC for the price of my less-than-TTC fare? Yay!
Steve: I already have a few questions in to Metrolinx, and will hold off on asking more like this for the moment. Metrolinx has a bad habit of forgetting that concession fares exist and concentrating on adults who ride GO trains.
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Unless something has changed I believe GO should have listed this as any ‘regular adult fare’ . During a past trip with a concession fare (children), the child was free on GO and then charged the local fare, while it was the opposite for me.
Steve: There are several inconsistencies that Metrolinx has not thought through, or at least included in the announcement, with concession fares being a big area of confusion. I am still waiting for them to get back to me on this.
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Do I pay just one fare if I ride TTC, then GO, then TTC again within the time limit?
Steve: Yes.
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Hi Steve – what’s included within “GO”? What about UP Express?
Steve: The UPX was included in the Metrolinx Initial Business Plan modelling according to that report, but it is conspicuously absent from the announcement.
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I don’t see why UPX can’t be part of this if they have just add an ‘airport surcharge’ west of Weston.
Steve: I await Metrolinx’ reply on the subject.
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From TTCs page regarding the One Fare program, they basically confirm that UP Express is not included.
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Does this mean a trip that involves more than one local agency (e.g YRT and TTC) and GO will also mean one GO fare?
Steve: Yes, both local agency fares would be free and you would pay only the GO fare for that segment of the trip. So, for example, starting on Miway to GO to the subway would be one GO fare.
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I see absolutely no reason why I can go from the TTC using my monthly pass and then on to YRT or MiWay at a reduced fare (which happens to be free), but not go from the TTC using my monthly pass and then on to GO at a reduced fare (which wouldn’t be free).
That makes absolutely no sense. Although I guess that makes it completely on brand for Metrolinx.
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The main concern that will remain is a frequency on routes of GTHA transit agencies.
The One Fair program is a good step to bring more people to transit from their cars.
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This morning (February 6), John Tory is filling in on Newstalk 1010 and keeps explaining this as only having to pay the lower fare of one’s trip. In other words, a ride on GO for the price of a TTC fare.
Nice spreading of misinformation!
Steve: I have heard that misinformation from other sources too. It’s amazing how supposedly well-informed people get a story completely backwards.
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Just to put this in perspective, I started as a transit operator with Mississauga Transit in September 1995. There was no integration of fares then. I retired after 27 years in May 2022.
Almost 29 years after I started we are now (almost) at the promised land of total fare integration. Way to go, TTC and City of Toronto, always great to see government moving quickly to solve a problem.🙄
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What about WheelTrans users? They can tap on with Presto on their rides. If they switch to GO do they get the same discount? What if they switch to other paratransit services in the regions. I know the Peel service does not use Presto. It requires users to prepay a balance to the service which is deducted when a ride is booked. This suggests disabled riders will be paying double fares if they cross boundaries. Don’t know about the other regional services.
Steve: Wheel-Trans users are notably absent from the list of riders who are affected by the One Fare system. I will inquire.
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Steve, I found some info on paratransit in the TTC FAQ:
So my assumption about WheelTrans to TransHelp is correct. No mention of the York Region and Durham Region paratransit operations, so maybe they use Presto. Implication, though not explicit, is that WheelTrans users could get the benefit if all the services they’re travelling on use Presto.
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I asked Metrolinx a question by Messenger that got a very surprising answer.
Q: “What if I’ve taken GO enough times this month that my remaining GO rides are free… Then what happens transferring to/from TTC?”
A: If somebody travels from TTC (and paid full TTC fare) to GO, and that customer has achieved full loyalty discount on GO, the customer will receive the value of the TTC fare on the GO tap, even if the GO tap returns money back to the customer. The GO tap would actually be returning money back to the customer in the amount of the fare paid on TTC effectively making the entire journey = $0
So a customer in this scenario might tap onto TTC (costing them 1 TTC fare) and then tap onto GO (which was already free for the rest of the month) and then the TTC fare they just paid is fully refunded.
Which I think sheds light on the above question “How does transferring work if a senior’s GO fare is cheaper than their TTC fare”? By the same logic, in this scenario “a short GO trip by a senior where the TTC fare is $2.25 and the GO fare (using Union to Long Branch as an example) is only $2.13” what you’d expect is that boarding the GO will return money to them so that the combined ride is cheaper than the TTC-only ride.
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Well, I can confirm that if you start on GO, and then take multiple trips on the TTC, the TTC rides are no charge.
I may try the other way around, take TTC and then GO. However, that runs into the problem that the GO station is a shorter walk than the closest TTC stop that would take me to the GO station.
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