April 22nd, 2015

TTC Users are Losers Under Queen's Park Transit Funding Plan

Peel Region’s finally getting its LRT and Queen’s Park is prepared to foot the entire construction bill.
Cue the epic optimism!

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie calls it “transformational” and a “coming of age” for her city. But amid the 905 giddiness prompted by Tuesday morning’s photo op there is a hint of despair for Toronto transit users.

You see, the Wynne government has committed to investing $16 billion in GTHA transit by 2025. That’s a lot of money. But more than $15 billion of that funding is already gone – $1.6 billion has been set aside for the Peel LRT and a whopping $13.5 billion has been earmarked to improve GO Train services.

That leaves about $900 million in capital funding for public transit across the rest of the GTHA.

That would barely cover Hamilton’s cap in hand call for the province to pay for Steeltown’s $811 million light rail system, (never mind the $300 million needed to upgrade and improve the current transit facilities.)

Oh ya, then there’s the TTC wish list, which includes the generationally overdue Downtown Relief Line, (DRL).

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca insists, however, the Wynne government’s transit funding commitments are putting “progress ahead of politics.”

But that’s only because his definition of progress is driven by politics.

It may not have the scent of scandal that wafted from the Gas Plant fiasco, but in some respects it’s a far greater waste of money and potential tax revenues.

The Minister proclaims the regional transit vision isn’t bogged down by local boundaries but he’s drawn a purposeful political line. His numbers just don’t add up to any kind of commitment for 416 commuters and that’s despite what may come out of Thursday’s provincial budget.

It’s not like the cupboard’s bare. There isn’t even a cupboard!

So Mayor John Tory’s reaction is a bit curious.

He told reporters he’s “happy” about the Peel LRT announcement, suggesting the province is doing “exactly what we want them to do.”

Really?

More than 90 per cent of Ontario’s transit capital funding is being invested in two projects that will eventually (by 2031) carry about 100 million passengers a year.

By comparison, that amounts to about ten weeks of TTC ridership. There were more than half a billion TTC rides last year.

Imagine the bang for the buck the entire province would enjoy if that 90 per cent were committed to expanding and expediting transit in the 416.

It would pay the full freight for SmartTrack and be a great start on the DRL

Now that would be “transformational”.