If you're paying cash, riding "The Rocket" will cost you $2.50 today, up from $2.25. Kids' fares rose a dime, and seniors and students' rates are up 20 cents.

An excerpt from the Toronto Star story:

Buying in bulk is still the cheaper way to go, but don't expect any change back when you hand over your folding money. Ten tokens or tickets are now an even $20 and five will go for $10, meaning each ticket will cost an extra dime.

Old tickets remain valid until the end of the month — so long as you also drop the extra dime in the fare box.

"It's only 10 cents," said Marilyn Bolton, a TTC spokesperson. "I think that the majority of people can afford that," she said.

Extra buses are to be added in mostly suburban areas this year. The TTC will also be introducing a transferable weekly pass for $30.

"We had to find money to put together our budget. In the end we only have a few options," Bolton said. "We were against cutting service, that only leaves fare increases.... We don't have a lot of ways to raise money."

The TTC needed to raise fares because it was facing increased inflation costs and a drop in the subsidy provided by the city of Toronto, said Vincent Rodo, general secretary of the TTC.

Governments have to get their stuff together. Funding transit is a w-a-a-y better option on so many levels than building more roads.

One idea has been to make GTA public transit a provincial responsibility. Hey, if it'll help ...

As an aside, The Globe and Mail did a story yesterday on the mythical TTC subway map -- that had been floating around for a couple months. An excerpt:

Who wouldn't want to take the subway to Pearson Airport, the zoo or the Beaches? A utopian fantasy map of the TTC, posted on various local websites recently, has captured imaginations with its added kilometres of fictional tunnels that make Toronto's transit system resemble the London Underground's famous intersecting lines of multicoloured geometric spaghetti.

You can find a version of the map if you click through to this GTAbloggers post.

More can also be found at this Transit Toronto posting.