Yesterday evening, a full crowd at Toronto Council Chamber chanted the words “Save Transit City”, the mantra-de-jour of the Public Transit Coalition. This was a rousing meeting, a rally to spur people to get out and develop support in their communities, and it ended with a surprise visit from David Miller to send everyone out in high spirits.
Some media and political reaction was quite predictable and treated this as an event to be ignored by all right-thinking folks and especially by Queen’s Park. MPP Glen Murray was there to put a goverment spin on the situation by claiming that all of the projects are still going ahead, and we’re only having a short delay while the treasury recovers from recent unpleasant circumstances.
Would that it were so easy. Already, word is leaking out of Metrolinx that some Transit City routes are on the chopping block. Not deferred. Cancelled. The Scarborough RT will never reach Malvern because it won’t be rebuilt, merely re-equipped with aging second-hand cars from Vancouver. Eglinton may never reach the airport. Jane? Don Mills? In your dreams.
This may play well to 905 voters and to the press who pander to an us-vs-them viewpoint of relations with the City and especially with the Miller regime. However, it’s time for the folks “out there” to wake up and see what funding deferrals mean for them.
The Metrolinx Big Move contains roughly $50-billion worth of projects spread over a 25-year period. I doubt that this estimate (leaving aside inflation, changes in interest rates, or capacity limits of the construction industry) is any more valid than the oft-criticized estimates for TTC projects. Somehow we are to believe that Metrolinx has a much more accurate crystal ball than the TTC, but I have my doubts. They certainly do not have a track record to prove it.
Queen’s Park hoped that Ottawa would come in for 1/3, but that clearly isn’t happening with a Harper government, and I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Iggy, if he ever gets to the corner office, to be any more helpful. We’re not the only city wanting federal handouts.
That means Ontario has to find $2-billion a year in new money, and likely another $1-billion to handle future operating costs once the lines are up and running. So far, they had announced $11-billion and change, but that would not cover anywhere near all of the 50-plus projects in The Big Move.
Remember that The Big Move has 15 Top Priority projects (see page 60 in The Big Move):
- Express rail on the GO Lakeshore corridor (frequent, electrified all-day service)
- Rapid transit from Eastgate Mall to McMaster University in Hamilton
- Rapid transit on Dundas Street in Halton and Peel
- 403 Transitway from Mississauga City Centre to Renforth
- Hurontario rapid transit from Port Credit to Brampton
- Brampton’s Queen Street Acceleride
- Rail link from Union Station to Pearson Airport
- VIVA Highway 7 and Yonge Street projects
- Spadina Subway to Vaughan Corporate Centre
- Yonge Subway capacity improvements and Richmond Hill extension
- Eglinton rapid transit from Pearson to Scarborough Centre
- Finch/Sheppard rapid transit from Pearson to Meadowvale
- Upgrade and extention of the Scarborough RT
- Rapid transit on Highway 2 in Durham
- Improvements of existing GO services and extension to Bowmanville
A few of these projects are funded and in progress, but many are not. How will their timetables be affected by pushing back the “Top 5” projects? How long will people in the 905 have to wait for their transit services?
Debates about funding sources seem to focus on commutes into Toronto, but many of the “Top 15” projects have nothing to do with downtown-oriented travel.
Queen’s Park and Metrolinx were also big on “alternative procurement” involving private sector capital, construction and possibly operations. Strangely, the delay in the early projects is all put down to provincial spending constraints, and there’s no word of the bucketloads of capital supposedly available elsewhere.
Queen’s Park has a lot of explaining to do, and they need to set out a clear roadmap for transit development.
Meanwhile, out in the 905, voters need to wake up. Queen and Bay may be a long way from where they live, and a Toronto rally may seem of little consequence. That bus, that LRT, that subway you were hoping to see soon is still a long way off and it’s not headed your way.
Steve Munro 
I was there as well. I think it is high time Toronto should start issuing infrastructure bonds or some other financial instrument, since it is obvious neither party at the federal or provincial level is serious about public transit. Toronto does have a good rating so I doubt the coupon rate would be high.
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The Liberals are playing it cool because they know they will be re-elected. Too many voters in Ontario live in the past and think PC Hudak will be another Harris and NDP Horwath will be another Rae. If they could make a strong commitment to transit, we need to vote for them next year!
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No one seems to be mentioning the fact that the federal and provincial governments bailed out the privately owned automobile manufacturers with public money (to the tune of $13 billion). We should be demanding better transit, and refuse to let them get away with hacking and slashing the development of PUBLIC infrastructure.
Steve: And GM is thrilled to advertise that it has paid back its loans early while ignoring the much larger sums that were “invested” in them by various governments.
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Your 905 comments are a little off the mark. Being a 905er I have seen more media coverage on transit related issues in the 905 in the 6 years I have been here than I saw in the last 5 years of living in Toronto. In fact in my town of newmarket. Transit gets extensive coverage in the local papers. I live near a street that has already has had houses and business expropriated and boarded up for a BRT line that may now not come to pass. In fact that street “Davis” looks more like a street in Buffalo than in southern Ontario. If the debate you have seen is mostly on Toronoto and its needs it is because of the Toronto centric news coverage and media. Our local 905 papers have lots to say about BRT’s VIVA, YRT and there relationship to issues in Toronto and the ovarall impact but unfortunately all the news comming out of the 416 is only about the 416 exclusively.
Steve: I’m glad that the 905 media are covering this, but I’m not sure 905 residents understand how the province’s inability to make a long-term commitment and to discuss funding strategies may threaten projects in the 905. That’s the intent of my article. Certainly, the Facebook threads in which Glen Murray participates or starts focus exclusively on the 416, no surprise given where his riding is located, but The Big Move is a GTA-wide issue and needs to be debated that way, including by the “Toronto” media.
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Do we know of any 905 projects that are on the chopping block as well?
A while back they did mention Viva next, only part of it is under construction now is it possible only a few segments will retain funding?
Steve: The problem is that all of the funding for The Big Move has been pushed back, and we can’t be sure, given that Metrolinx is having second thoughts about its plans, what The Big Move actually looks like any more. This is what you get when all of the planning is done in secret after those years of pretention about public consultation.
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Aren’t Vancouver’s RT Mark I cars the same age as ours? How would they buy us extra time? I can see them upgrading the line to Mark II, as that was the cheapest option, but not this.
Frankly, I think everybody is over-reacting. And I’ve got news for you guys — most of the 416 doesn’t care about transit either. It’s just not a priority for the general public.
Steve: I am reliably informed that Metrolinx wants to buy Mark I’s and fix them (along with the TTC fleet) up for another 15 years of service. If that’s not true, then I challenge Metrolinx to deny it.
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Joe 905 has no freaking clue. Where I work in Port Credit, I tried to explain the for the same money to build the capacity to build the more road they want, they could move several times as many transit riders. They could still drive their stupid car, and they’d have more people out of their way. “But I want more roads. They’re too crowded/” ^%&*^*&^*^%%%$#!!!!!
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The people of Durham region have no clue of what the transit cut backs will do to their future. Most residents don’t even know there’s a transit plan for their region.
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“The Scarborough RT will never reach Malvern because it won’t be rebuilt, merely re-equipped with aging second-hand cars from Vancouver.”
That would be a perfectly retarded solution. First of all, what will happen 15 years later, when refurbished Mk-I cars reach the end of their extended life? The existing track won’t magically become suitable for Mk-II, and Bombardier won’t resume production of Mk-I. Another closure of the line?
Secondly, what is the point of building Sheppard LRT if it won’t even connect to Scarborough RT? If the funding situation is so bad, they should rather cancel SELRT, and use the funds to extend Scarborough (L)RT to Malvern. At least, the area will have one rapid transit line.
Steve: I suspect someone at Metrolinx still entertains hopes of building Eglinton as an ICTS line, and then hooking up a Mark II Eglinton route with a converted and upgraded SRT. I also suspect that Bombardier would just love to have another showcase line, and Eglinton would be their big chance. Their lobbyists are probably earning their keep whispering in ears at Metrolinx and Queen’s Park. It wouldn’t be the first time.
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Steve said: “I am reliably informed that Metrolinx wants to buy Mark I’s and fix them (along with the TTC fleet) up for another 15 years of service.”
Didn’t Vancouver basically say that they would only part with their Mark I’s if we would pay for new Mark II’s to replace them, or have their demands changed now that the Olympics are over? If nothing has changed, I really want to see the math Metrolinx is using to justify their sanity.
Steve: I understand that the price has fallen since the last time Vancouver was asked.
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When we live in a metropolitan region where decades of poor leadership has led to almost no major completion of rapid transit projects in the last thirty years, I am honestly not surprised that there are many people willing to put down large sums of money to forego having a nice large home in the 905 for a condominium instead in the downtown core-just so one can completely eliminate the need to make a stressful commute to work on our often times dangerous highways. I was born in 1982, when Metro Toronto was shirking on investing in rapid transit in order to give ICTS a chance. In my lifetime I have seen the 604 Harbourfront, Downview station, 510 Spadina, and Sheppard subway go into service. This pales vastly in comparison to the additional thirty years that elapsed before my time when rapid transit investment was taken far more seriously. If the three levels of government continue to renege on their responsibilities to provide decent transit to the city region, I can be sure that more people will continue to flock to the inner city for it’s housing. And if our governments continue to choose to put off transit investment for another day, then I am sure that this trend of ditching the suburbs for downtown living will only gain further momentum proceeding further into this new century and beyond.
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The main issue, but not the only one, that I am deciding where to vote in the upcoming elections, whatever ones, municipal, provincial or federal is which party or candidate seems the most progressive toward transit. Toronto is seriously falling behind other cities, even here in Canada, in how much we invest in transit infrastructure. Transit will help much more then just the environment, it will help our economy as well by allowing more of us to get to our various works without clogging up and polluting our highways. This transit funding is the main issue I am deciding my vote for all of the different election. We need to get more funding from all the different levels of gov’t and I would even consider tolls as a way of finding this needed money.
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As would the price of any used vehicle, because it is just a little less useful now than it was back then…
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I love the idea of infrastructure bonds. Isn’t that how infrastructure projects were funded in the United States after World War 2? I was at the transit meeting on Wednesday and it was a great atmosphere. The majority of Torontonians want the Transit City lines built. McGuinty and company are supposed to represent the people of this province and it is very clear that he is not carrying out the will of the people
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Issuing infrastructure bonds still means you end up paying, just spread over many years into the future. This only works if you are fairly sure you won’t need to issue more bonds before the last lot are paid off. It would make sense for a *complete* network (like Transit city), but would be a terrible idea for (say) new vehicles.
Personally, I would rather see cities save up the money for big projects (i.e. you pay in the years before construction), but I know that is politically unlikely.
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How much is the Ontario government dropping in unnecessary highway projects over the next 10 years? My prime example is the construction of a full controlled-access highway between Kitchener and Guelph when all that is needed is four-laning of the existing Highway 7, the installation of some large roundabouts, and maybe a prohibition on left turns at some non-roundabout locations.
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I would imagine their reliability and cost-effectiveness has fallen, too. This is the worst thing they could possibly do.
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I say just cancel the SELRT all together if it won’t even connect to the S(L)RT. Does the city really need another orphan transit line? If the SELRT does get built without the connection to the Scarborough RT, Sheppard Avenue East will be the laughing stock of the world.
Better yet, de-amalgamate the city by having scarborough, north york, and etobicoke break away from city hall’s control, so there would be less problems for Toronto to worry about.
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Did you hear Glen Murray speak? Part of me wanted to tell him to stop talking so he can breathe.
Just playing devil’s advocate, Maybe the province did a mistake by promising funding for the 4 lines SELRT, ECLRT, SRT/SLRT and EFWLRT
64 (plus SRT/SLRT kms) kms is a lot to pay for. The provincial wallet would be pretty tight for a decade or two, why not prioritize. Go one line at the time?
At least maybe this will kill the idea of the WWLRT which is the dumbest thing I have ever seen.
I get my phone, cell, tv/internet/cable, hydro bills at different times of the month which is good, if I had to all of them at the same day, I would most likely have a heart attack. Think of Transit City like that.
At the same time, I challenge Mr. McGuinty to come to my neighbourhood (Scarborough-Guildwood in provincial naming) using the TTC then I will buy him a coffee or lunch then he can go back using the TTC. Let’s see how long it is going to take him. He will have used up to 4 hours of his time travelling from Queen’s Park and returning there.
Is there a guarantee that Transit City service will be reliable? To tell you the truth, I don’t care what comes to my stop, subway, streetcar, bus or even a dodo bird. If a vehicle does not come for 30 minutes, it is a vehicle not coming for 30 minutes.
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Not much to add except, DAMNIT!
We were entering a golden age for GTA transit – the political stars aligned, plans were put in place, residents were starting to demand it – and now we’ve lost it all.
I will personally halt delivery of those Vancouver Mark I’s if it comes to pass. McCowan yard is small enough that we can barricade it if we have to!
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I think an opportunity was missed by framing the argument as “Save Transit City” when the Mayor could have collaborated with his peers across the GTA (Regional Chairs and Mayors).
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If it were me, I’d place the subway extentions to Y-U-S, and funnel that money into the LRT programme instead. Put the subway extensions on hold, and do the extensions later on.
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J said: “I will personally halt delivery of those Vancouver Mark I’s if it comes to pass. McCowan yard is small enough that we can barricade it if we have to!”
Don’t worry, the lack of space for the Mark I’s from Vancouver at McCowan yard will probably be a more effective barricade.
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I agree with Miroslav. I think the McGuinty Government went way over their heads when they came out and said they were going to fund all of those projects and on schedule. Transit City is a very ambitious plan and I know McGuinty meant well but it is simply too much for Queen’s Park to handle on its own.
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I assume you can’t reveal your sources of information, but I am shocked beyond belief that projects will actually be cancelled. In Toronto and at the TTC you can delay the capital funding to the year 3000, but never will a project officially be cancelled. The EA’s just accumulate and never get built. I can’t imagine Chairman Rob MacIsaac coming out and saying project X, Y and Z has been cancelled, especially after McGuinty and Wynne repeatedly said nothing would be. Specifically, other than Don Mills, Scarborough, Jane and Eglinton to the airport, what else is done for?
Steve: I don’t know beyond that list because the info I received was only related to Transit City. It is also possible that the project equivalent of “constructive dismissal” would occur simply by putting projects far enough down the list that they never actually get started. Alternately, a faction within Metrolinx may be using this opportunity to rewrite The Big Move more to their own liking.
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McGuinty bails on ‘Transit City’, bails on good sex-ed… God, I hate voting for Liberals just to keep Harris/Hudak out!
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In reply to:
For starters, count your blessings regarding the ‘extensive media coverage’ ‘mainstream’ media that is, in case you haven’t noticed the majority of that coverage is very negative, particularly when most of the issues affect the entire GTA region, but somehow get Toronto only coverage.
Anyway, I’d really like to here the rational behind the BRT on Davis, it seems like a big waste of money … I drive on this stretch from time to time, yea it gets crowed at times, but the transit ridership is dismal at best (yes even with Viva Blue), in all honesty why bother? York region is spending a lot of money on improving Viva when the rest of the region has what can only be described as terrible service. This isn’t a coverage issue but a headway issue, instead of spending money on these big projects which get more coverage in the media, they really need to purchase more buses and increase the connectivity of the region by improving the frequency of the service.
And even if this was a goal one day, why the heck start here, on Davis street … York region’s biggest hurdle is it seems they need to spread the wealth across the region as clearly evident by this.
Here’s what’s even worse, to start this will just be a pilot project in the sense that the buses will still use the outer lanes and I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes mixed traffic as well, eventually they may convert and use the center lanes as a BRT.
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From the above article and comments it’s clear much more is required to promote transit activism in the entire region. If the discussions continue to be in this or that municipality they are easily divided by the nature of our political process. The only way the Ontario government will be pressured into real action is by a much larger group of voters.
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If they are going to refurbish the Mark I’s and add some more from Vancouver, then what begs to question, is what is the total cost of that project. This would consist of:
Track work, signalling, etc. Obtaining the Vancouver cars. Refurbishing the cars? We need to look at the total here, to determine if this is a sane way to go.
Also another thing begs a question, are we just putting off the inevitable for 15 years, and will the project simply cost a lot more then?
It may be cheaper for the city to issue bonds, and do it now, then to spend a lot of money fixing up the SRT, and then do the original project in 15 years for three times the cost.
As for the 905, Peel Region has over 1,000,000 people in it’s own right, York has nearly 800,000 and Durham over 500,000 some of these areas are large enough, that like Toronto they could develop their own projects and issue bonds for those projects.
Perhaps this is where the Province should fit in, the Province would buy up these bonds at a discount, making better use of the Provinces money then a hand out.
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Which projects of the top 15 are unaffected?
If you do the math, The scarborough RT is 1.4 Billion, The YOrk Region VIVA NEXT is 1.4 Billion, then you have the Sheppard LRT which is 0.6 Billion and then you have 1.6 Billion left to the 5 Billion dollar total.
York Region VIVA next is already under construction not to mention upgrading the Scarborough RT due to the Pan Am Games and the 0.6 Billion with the 0.3 Billion from the Federal Government for the Sheppard LRT, then you are left with 1.6 Billion which could build the Finch West LRT and cancel the Eglinton or cancel the Finch LRT and build part of the Eglinton LRT.
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The only section of “VivaNext” (median bus lanes) that makes sense was the Finch to Richmond Hill section, where the bus traffic and congestion warrant it. But that section was jettisoned because York Region decided to stick it out for a subway, and wouldn’t build any infrastructure that might mitigate the case for a subway. (Not that I don’t think the Yonge North subway isn’t a terrible idea – it makes far more sense than the subway to the IKEA in Vaughan, but capacity downstream has to be addressed first, and that would mean the DRL.)
The Hurontario LRT is two-thirds through the EA process, now with actual alignments posted. I wrote about it briefly last week on Spacing (along with the funded “Zum”, ex-Acceleride bus service). Hurontario, like Finch, is ideal for median LRT, and the parallel land-use planning is really progressive for the suburbs.
I really wish Miller engaged some of the other cities who have LRT dreams screwed – Hamilton, Ottawa, Mississauga/Brampton, Waterloo Region, and presented an united front.
By the way, anyone else notice the recent go-ahead for the 401 connection to the still unconfirmed Detroit-Windsor bridge crossing in Dwight Duncan’s hometown?
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Which projects are currently funded?
If you had only 5 Billion which projects would you fund?
Steve: We don’t know which are funded now that the $4b had been pulled from the budget. What was funded before was Sheppard East, Scarborough RT replacement and extension, Eglinton, Finch West and VIVA. I have answered the “what would I do” question before, and won’t be drawn into that game. The more important question is whether there will ever be any money after the initial $5b, and whether the $4b that was withdrawn will be redirected to other projects. I cannot answer the “what would you build” question without the context of whether I can count or more money to follow, of if that’s all we get for a decade or more.
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Which transit projects are not affected?
Steve: How many times do I have to answer this question?
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Is the subway to York University & The Pearson Airport Link Still progressing?
Is the Sheppard East LRT still Progressing too?
Steve: The York U subway and Sheppard LRT are under construction, both in preliminary stages. A good deal of work has been underway in the Weston corridor for some time to add trackage for the ARL.
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Steve says: “Attention 905: Transit Cuts Hurt You Too”
Yeah,… whatever!
That $2.8 Billion 8.6 km 6 station Spadina Subway extension (Ontario $1.1 BILLION + Canada $698 million + Toronto $600 milion + York Region $400 million) which will NEVER have any serious ridership numbers,… aka the Provincial Liberal Pet Project to Vaughan Corporate Centre (or whatever they’re calling it now) will NEVER be cut.
Transit Cuts are ONLY for 416
Steve: Don’t be so sure. Look at the laundry list of 905-based projects that don’t even have funding yet, and ask whether these will ever see the light of day.
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I think the real question is how many car oriented highway projects are getting the axe as well. Even if the government had to stop giving any money for transit, you can bet that not even 1mm of highway widening will get cut, even though it costs more, is effective for a much shorter time and requires more maintenance.
As for the subway to Vaughan Corporate Centre, it will probably see a fair amount of traffic, in that it will be easy for drivers to zip across the 407, use the massive parking lot they will build there and then take the subway into the city. Might even reduce some of the traffic on the Yonge side.
The problem with places like York Region, and most of the 905 is that these projects depend to a large extent on people still using cars for part of the trip.
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That quip about the 401 is unwarranted. The Detroit-Windsor border crossing is one of the busiest in the world, as is Highway 401 itself. Be grateful that instead of a spider-web of freeways, we only have one major crossroad, and live with the fact that trucks need to get around too.
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The fundamental problem here is that our society – largely brainwashed by the media – has embraced an incorrect assumption that all taxes are bad and that tax increases are strictly forbidden. Ontario is not a poor Province – in fact we are probably one of the richest regions in the world. Why then do we do without “frills” such as transportation, education and infrastructure renewal? The reason is simple. The government does not have adequate resources to fund the requirements of a modern society. The reason for that is because taxes are too low. However, any suggestion that taxes be raised is immediately shot down with the idiot response that all we need to do is “eliminate waste” and government will have plenty of money. It is time to retire that stupidity once and for all. None of the “waste cutters” have ever been able to remotely demonstrate the areas where we can save enough to fund the unmet needs of our society. (The Toronto City Councillor’s expense allowances, for example, even if completely eliminated would not be enough to fund the operating subsidy for the TTC for even one month.)
It is not just transit that has fallen behind. Our schools are a disgrace; sewers and water mains are in a state of crisis, road repairs are years (decades) behind schedule and basic maintenance is deferred or inadequately completed. The ironic thing is that the ensuing chaos results in greater long term costs. Sometime in the future we will have to pay two or three or four times what was necessary to maintain our lifestyle today.
Sometimes the damage is permanent. Our complete neglect of transit outside the 416 has lead to the a car oriented/transit unfriendly suburban infrastructure that has been widely built and almost impossible to change. How many additional farms are going to turn into sprawling suburbs – each one farther “out” while we “defer” addressing the transit issues that are already past due for a solution.
It is time to summon up the courage to raise taxes so that our governments can affordably provide the services we need to be a successful society. Mr. McGuinty should have, for example, taken up Mr. Flaherty’s challenge to move into the 2% head room created by the (stupid) reduction in GST and increase Ontario’s sales tax commensurately. Our new HST is one of the few bright moves made by government. With adequate revenue, government may be able to provide for the social safety net and service support supposedly supported by the NDP and yet their reaction to the HST is to chant silly slogans. Consumption taxes are also supposed to be conservative bedrock – but Tim Hudak can’t pass up the populist opportunity to come up with his own silly slogans.
If the current direction our society was taking was only going to lead to a “different” but also successful outcome than the one I would like to see, this would be a question for debate. Unfortunately, it will not. It is heading for a disaster where our current neglect will result in an inevitable decrease in standard of living and enormous costs to catch up.
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How do you foresee funding commitments outside of Metrolinx’s purview (such as the Waterloo Region LRT project) being affected by this change of policy?
Steve: At this point, I don’t know. The larger context for these budget cuts is to know what the provincial long-term plans are for transit funding including projects outside of the GTA. This is a much bigger issue than just a few Transit City lines.
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I really wish people would stop pushing toll roads as the way to solve our transit funding problems… instead of the money wasted on infrastructure to determine which cars are entering and exiting the DVP or Gardiner… not to mention the cost of issuing bills to people… just gradually raise the freaking gas tax and split that extra money sort of like they’re already doing.
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