The Procrastination Station

And so, the vote was in favor of the fare hike. The TTC fare price will be $3 starting in January 2010. Not much of a surprise here.

Now, I am forced to share some secret techniques that some people use to save money on TTC.

Pay the fare in dimes, nickels, and pennies
Just grab a handful and put it in the collection box. Those lazy attendants won’t stop you. For the few that do, just ask them how much you are short by. Make those guys actually do some work.

Pay with a dime instead of a token
When the change box has change and tokens, throw in a dime. I don’t need to explain this one, I’m sure everyone here has thought about it before.

Sell TTC transfers
Get a whole bunch of transfers at the subway station, and when you get to the transfer point, start selling your transfers for like $1. The people that were going to pay cash fare or use a token would gladly buy a transfer. Chances are that the bus will be late anyway, so you might as well capitalize on the waiting time.

Photocopy a TTC monthly pass
Color photocopy one of those monthly passes and put the piece of paper in an old wallet. If you want, you could also get a blank BestBuy giftcard and glue your photocopy onto the card. Flash it to the bus drivers and toll collectors and see if they notice. If you want something more high end, I hear you can get some “exact” replicas for 20 bucks.

Please note that these plans are not recommended and I don’t support such underhand tactics. I am just saying that some people might use these methods and easily get away with it. But you should definitely pay the full fare price. Cheating the system only hurts other riders, especially the ones who are willing to pay fare hikes.