TTC losing $20M in revenue a week as ridership goes down 80%

The TTC is losing $20 million in revenue a week, as ridership drops 80%, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the overall revenue of the city which is seeing a $65 million weekly loss.

On Friday, Mayor John Tory said the TTC has seen “dramatic revenue drops” and will need to have support during the recovery period once closures and physical distancing measures are lifted.

The city will be on lockdown until June 30, meaning that in three months the TTC will lose $305 million and with the six month recovery period, the transit commission will experience a total of $940 million in revenue losses.

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“This is a conservative amount,” Tory said. “This is making the assumption that we will gradually be opening up closures which will boost ridership again.”

Similarly, the city is losing $65 million a week over the course of the pandemic, meaning Toronto will lose approximately $1.5 billion, over the nine month closure and recovery period.

Tory said he is ready to lead Toronto in the economic recovery process in a “sensible and balanced way.”

But the economic recovery will require help from all levels of government as Toronto is Canada’s financial and business centre, growing at a faster GDP rate than the national average — Toronto represents 20% of the country’s GDP.

“Toronto will lead in the nation’s economic recovery. Cities are on the frontlines to combat COVID-19 and will be on the frontlines to recover our country’s economy,” Tory said.

In order to end the pandemic faster, the Mayor said residents must continue to stay at home and adhere to the measures in place.

While Toronto is still seeing an increase in cases, the numbers are not as dramatic as previously thought.

According to Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa, there are now 3,145 total cases with 244 in hospital and 97 in ICU.

There has been a total of 154 deaths in the province.

De Villa said that cases will continue to increase in long-term care homes and shelters as testing capacity increases.

“While this is concerning, the more information we have the better we are equipped to respond to the pandemic,” she said.

Toronto Public Health data shows that 23% of the cases have been amongst residents over 80-years of age and 35% of those hospitalized are age 40-59 years.

Around 35% are a result of close contact with a confirmed case.

De Villa said the information indicates that the virus effects all age demographics and that staying home is still the best measure to flatten the curve.