Dear TTC,

Really?

No seriously. Really?

Do you actually think that raising fares so that a one way trip costs almost 3 dollars is going to help? Yes, I grant you that you will get a bit more money from each trip, but I think it will backfire. The fares are already too high, and this I think will be the straw that broke the camel's back. People aren't going to take the subway if they can help it. Most of my friends don't take it every day, and if you jack up the price again (something like the third time in three years) they are going to stop altogether. Because frankly? Aside from it being simply galling that you have no shame in charging almost 3 dollars for a one way trip, no matter how short it is, um, how do I put this delicately?

Your service sucks the monkey.

Overcrowding. Unreasonable wait times in between trains. Subway lines built in the middle of nowhere while the populated core has to continue cramming onto one east-west line. Trains being put out of service in the middle of rush hour, dumping hundreds of people out, who then have to wait for up to twenty-five minutes for a train they can squeeze onto. Drivers who slam on the brakes at every stop, sending people flying. The last train leaves well before 2am. No early morning Sunday service. Frequent stoppages in service along the whole line while an issue is dealt with at one station. I could go on, but if I listed all the problems, I'd get carpal tunnel syndrome.

I know you're scandalously underfunded, and that chafes my ass something fierce. In fact, I think the fact that the provincial government pays nothing into your budget is a crime and I'm considering voting for whomever promises to rectify this situation in the upcoming election, but it seems to me that this notion of raising fares again is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Winning the battle but losing the war. Some other cliché that means the same thing. This is not the way to fix things. Please reconsider.