At its meeting of Wednesday, December 5, the Metrolinx Board of Directors approved raising GO Transit fares this Friday, February 1. GO says that, by increasing fares, it can “continue to provide a high level of customer service across [its] system while… [making] improvements such as more parking and more train and bus trips to meet increasing demand, ensure our facilities and equipment are well-maintained, and manage increasing costs”.

Since GO fares vary by the distance you travel, the cost for each single adult ride, if you use a paper ticket, increases in steps to make sure that the higher prices are fair for passengers across the GO system:

1. current fares between $4.50 and $5.80 increase by 35 cents;
2. current fares between $5.81 and $7.35 increase by 45 cents; and
3. current fares greater than $7.35 increase by 55 cents.

Fares between $4.50 and $5.80 apply, for example, to train trips from Union Station:

• along the 01 Lakeshore West line as far west as Port Credit GO Station;
• along the 09 Lakeshore East line as far east as Rouge Hill GO Station;
• along the 21 Milton line line as far west as Cooksville GO Station;
• along the 31 Kitchener line as far northwest as Etobicoke North GO Station;
• along the entire 61 Richmond Hill line to Richmond Hill GO Station;
• along the 65 Barrie line as far north as Maple GO Station; and
• along the 71 Stouffville line as far northeast as Agincourt GO Station.

Fares between $5.81 and $7.35 apply, for example, to train trips from Union Station:

• along the 01 Lakeshore West line to Clarkson and Oakville GO Stations;
• along the 09 Lakeshore East line to Pickering and Ajax GO Stations;
• along the 21 Miltonline to Erindale, Streetsville and Meadowvale GO Stations;
• along the 31 Kitchener line to Malton, Bramalea and Brampton GO Stations;
• along the 65 Barrie line to King City and Aurora GO Stations; and
• along the 71 Stouffville line to Milliken, Unionville, Centennial, Markham and Mount Joy GO Stations.

Fares greater than $7.35 apply, for example, to train trips from Union Station:

• along the 01 Lakeshore West line to Bronte GO Station and beyond;
• along the 09 Lakeshore East line to Whitby and Oshawa GO Stations;
• along the 21 Milton line to Lisgar and Milton GO Stations;
• along the 31 Kitchener line to Mount Pleasant GO Station and beyond;
• along the 65 Barrie line to Newmarket GO Station and beyond; and
• along the 71 Stouffville line to Stouffville and Lincolnville GO Stations.

Fares for students, seniors and children are also increasing.

Since GO wants to encourage more passengers to use PRESTO cards, the overall cost for each trip will be less — it’s increasing the amount of the “loyalty discount” that it applies when you use the fare cards to ride GO buses and trains.

For adults, the loyalty discount increases from the current 7.5 to 8.75 percent off the adult single-ride paper ticket fare for rides 1 to 35. For rides 36 to 40, the loyalty discount increases from the current 87 to 87.75 percent off the adult single-ride paper ticket fare.

For students, the loyalty discount increases from the current 15 to 16.25 percent off the adult single-ride paper ticket fare for rides 1 to 30. For children and seniors, the loyalty discount increases from the current 50 to 50.75 percent off the adult single-ride paper ticket fare.

You can use the GO fare calculator to determine how much you’ll be paying to ride after Friday.