After years of talk about the TTC’s plans to eventually phase out legacy fares, the time has almost come for riders to use up any remaining tokens, tickets, and day passes they may have hanging around.
The transit agency has been urging customers to spend these fare types while they still can since at least 2019 — when the sale of the older fare types was discontinued at stations — but after a deadline to use them was finally set for the end of 2024, some pushback from advocates prompted the commission to extend the cutoff by a few months.
The new date is quickly approaching in just a few weeks, though, with June 1, 2025 serving as the last day staff will ever accept tokens, single tickets or day passes to ride the rocket. June was selected because it is, as TTC Chair Jamaal Myers revealed in December, “the earliest possible opening date for Line 5 Eglinton and Line 6 Finch,” which “have no collection support for old fare media.”
#Toronto upset that #TTC is getting rid of tokens https://t.co/YteEbGAAbs pic.twitter.com/6cImc83zuf
— blogTO (@blogTO) December 7, 2018
The shift is also in line with ongoing fare modernization across the network, and encourages travellers to transition to contactless payment methods such as Presto cards and bank cards.
Cash will also still be permitted at station and bus fare boxes, and via the fare machines on streetcars, though passengers should note that a transfer is required as proof-of-payment.
There is also a proposal on the table to nix cash fares completely in light of the fact that fewer than 90 customers per station pay by this method, and how prevalent fare evasion with cash payment is.
Tokens were once so widely-used that people had special holders for them. Photo by Ed Drass.
Given that the TTC will not be issuing any refunds, exchanges or credits for legacy payment methods, you’d best check your loose change, old purses and wallets, and maybe even under the couch cushions to see if you have any you can use for a ride before they are rendered invalid for good.
Alternatively, you can keep them as a vintage souvenir (and reminder of your age) that many GenZers don’t even recognize.
