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TTC chair Karen Stintz says the TTC will post a $60 million surplus this year.
When the new TTC board meets on Wednesday it will be faced with a quandry — what to do with an estimated $60 million surplus.
Karen Stintz, the new TTC chair, said Tuesday it's an unprecedented situation that was brought about by a number of factors, including last year's controversial fare increase.
"The TTC didn't expect they'd have a surplus when the decision was made about the fare increase," said Stintz. "Actually there was an expectation that ridership would decline."
Instead ridership actually grew.
In total the TTC is projecting 480 million rides on its vehicles this year — that's about four per cent higher than it first estimated.
The transit system also profited from cheaper fuel costs and stronger than predicted advertising revenue.
Those figures helped generate $43.1 million more in revenue. And fuel and other savings helped cut expenses by about $17 million.
Now the question is what to do with the windfall.
"Mayor Ford spoke about his intent not to have a fare increase and certainly we'll take that to the commission meeting as a guideline," said Stintz.
Last year the TTC received $430 million from the city, along with a further 483 million for Wheel- Trans.
The TTC is expected to ask for a similar subsidy from the city this year.
