Having just returned from Paris, I consider any rise in transit fees to be an incentive to drive cars. In Paris you can purchase a ticket for .80 Euro, which is now about $1.00. With that you have access to a vast subway plus surface transit, and the urban rail system into the burbs.
Doug
I agree, Canada lags way behind the rest of the western world in so far as green energy and public transit. The government way underfunds public transit in Canada and therefore the TTC is one of the most expensive and inefficient systems in the western world.
Go to any country in western Europe and you will find rail links to airports and public transportation systems that run like clockwork, whether it be Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or London to name a few. Fast TGV train service in most countries even make it disadvantageos to fly between cities in Europe.
It's time governments here woke up and showed more vision. This is after all 2011, not 1970.
More affordable fares for people who need to use public transit for work, seniors and students as well as more rapid rail lines, improved and expanded GO Tansit service, would see many more in the GTA leave their cars at home. Less pollution, less gridlock in a time of higher than ever gas prices. Sounds good to me.