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:
- current fares between $4.50 and $5.80 increase by 35 cents;
- current fares between $5.81 and $7.35 increase by 45 cents; and
- 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.
Recent fare increases
2013 fare increases
MiWay raised fares Monday, January 28.
Peterborough Transit raised fares Wednesday, January 2.
The TTC raised fares Tuesday, January 1.
York Region Transit raised fares Tuesday, January 1.
Oakville Transit raised fares Tuesday, January 1.
Burlington Transit revised fares for Handi-van (door-to-door accessible service) passengers Tuesday, January 1.
The Hamilton Street Railway revised fares for senior passengers Tuesday, January 1.
2012 fare increases
Durham Region Transit revised fares for DRT Specialized Services (door-to-door accessible service) passengers Saturday, December 1.
Guelph Transit raised fares Saturday, September 1.
Durham Region Transit and Grand River Transit raised fares Sunday, July 1.
Barrie Transit raised fares Tuesday, May 1.
The St. Catharines Transit Commission raised fares Monday, April 2.
Brampton Transit raised fares Monday, March 26.
GO Transit raised fares Saturday, February 18.
MiWay raised fares Monday, January 30.
The TTC raised fares New Year’s Day, New Year’s Day, Sunday, January 1.
York Region Transit and Oakville Transit alos raised fares New Year’s Day, Sunday, January 1.
Milton Transit also raised fares New Year’s Day, Sunday, January 1.
2011 fare increases
Guelph Transit and Port Colborne Transit raised fares Wednesday, September 1, 2011.
Grand River Transit, Niagara Falls Transit and Oakville Transit raised fares Friday, July 1, 2011.
Barrie Transit raised fares Sunday, May 1, 2011.
MiWay raised fares Monday, April 4, 2011.
Brampton Transit raised fares Monday, March 28, 2011.
2010 fare increases
Burlington Transit raised fares Thursday, April 1, 2010.
GO Transit raised fares Saturday, March 20, 2010.
Barrie Transit raised fares Monday, March 1, 2010.
Guelph Transit raised fares Monday, February 1, 2010.
The TTC raised fares Sunday, January 3, 2010.
The Hamilton Street Railway raised fares Friday, January 1, 2010.
2009 fare increases
Durham Region Transit raised fares Wednesday, July 1, 2009.
GO Transit raised fares Saturday, March 14, 2009.
The Region of Peel’s accessible door-to-door TransHelp service raised its fares Sunday, March 1, 2009.
Brampton Transit raised fares Monday February 16, 2009.
Guelph Transit raised fares Sunday, February 1, 2009.
Mississauga Transit raised the cost of fares Monday, January 26, 2009.
Burlington Transit raised the cost of cash fares, tickets and passes Sunday, January 4, 2009.
Barrie Transit raised the cost of monthly passes Thursday, January 1, 2009.
Oakville Transit raised the cost of adult cash fares Thursday, January 1, 2009.
York Region Transit raised the cost of adult cash fares Thursday, January 1, 2009.
2008 fare increases
Guelph Transit raised fares Sunday, July 6, 2008.
Durham Region Transit raised fares Tuesday, July 1, 2008.
Oakville Transit raised fares Tuesday, July 1, 2008.
GO Transit raised fares Saturday, March 15, 2008.
Mississauga Transit raised all fares Monday, February 25, 2008.
Brampton Transit “adjusted” fares Monday, January 28, 2008.
The Hamilton Street Railway raised fares Tuesday, January 1, 2008.
Mississauga Transit raised the cost of seniors passes Tuesday, January 1, 2008.
York Region Transit raised fares Tuesday, January 1, 2008.
2007 fare increases
The TTC raised fares Sunday, November 4, 2007.
Durham Region Transit raised all fares Sunday, July 1, 2007.
The Hamilton Street Railway raised fares Friday, June 1, 2007.
Barrie Transit raised fares Tuesday, May 1, 2007.
Milton Transit raised fares Monday, April 2, 2007.
Mississauga Transit raised fares Monday, February 26, 2007.
Brampton Transit raised fares [Monday, February 5, 2007.
York Region Transit raised fares Monday, January 1, 2007.
Durham Region Transit raised seniors and access fares only Monday, January 1, 2007.