Ann Marie Aikins says that the transit agency will not increase GO or UP Express prices in the foreseeable future due to record fuel prices across the Greater Toronto Area.

"We have no intention to do so. We want riders to come back, and we are still slowly progressing our ridership to pre-pandemic levels, but we are still far from it. So now is not the right time, so I want to reassure them that we are not raising prices," she told CP24 on Friday.

She added that the agency uses nearly 83 million liters of diesel fuel annually and has the financial capacity to help mitigate rising costs.

Metrolinx has not raised PRESTO ticket prices since 2019. Gas prices recorded a rise on Friday to 194.9 cents per liter in the public transit area, surpassing the previous record of 190.9 cents per liter on March 10.

Gas prices are expected to continue rising in the coming weeks to reach $2 per liter by the long weekend.

"This is going to become more painful and last much longer," Dan McTeague told CP24 on Wednesday, saying there is nothing on the horizon that would cause these prices to drop.

The rise in gas prices is largely due to the war in Ukraine and the European Union's recent decision to stop importing Russian gas by the end of the year.