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2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Transit Plans

I really don't think Tory had any intention of taking the Eglinton East option and he will simply continue north on the UPX line.

He couldn't exactly say that in an election as that would have started a vocal fight in an election complain and helped Chow and Ford by claiming that the line is unworkable or that he can't work with Metrolinx so he couldn't get anything done. After the Pan Am Games, the line will be the first section of ST serving hundreds of thousands and dozens of new destination with rapid transit that have none now. More stations and higher capacity will be phased in as electrification is added.

Pearson may have a smaller station but every other train could alternate between Pearson and Malton or short turn at Etobiko North and could use larger, higher capacity trains. It will serve him well as he can say something actually got built before the next election and the feds and Queen's Park could do the same which means they will be far more willing to fork over some cash.
 
Adjei said:
Province might be looking to restore back some of the TTC's operating funding. Tory doing more for Toronto than Ford could for 4 years even before he is Mayor:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...art-of-tab-for-operating-ttc/article21569882/
Click to expand...

Yeah. Ontario's finances (revenue side) for 2015 are starting to look really good with major increases from the manufacturing side (5% to 15% depending on industry). The Canadian dollar is down just enough and the US is starting to consume again.
 
Adjei said:
Province might be looking to restore back some of the TTC's operating funding. Tory doing more for Toronto than Ford could for 4 years even before he is Mayor:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...art-of-tab-for-operating-ttc/article21569882/
Click to expand...

That would be great if it were true, but I can't picture the province doing that soon, given the deficit and that spending money on Toronto is the political equivalent of being videotaped kicking puppies.

Really though, the province needs to get involved, some of the money from the big move was supposed to be dedicated to local transit systems. It could be done in an equitable way (say $0.20 subsidy per transit rider in previous year, or $0.10/trip + $0.10/person in city's population) that would be fair but still mostly benefit the TTC.
 
Province (through Patrick Searle) are out today saying the Globe piece is innacurate. but there was this announcement

.@StevenDelDuca announces $321.5M in Gas Tax funding for 96 transit agencies to improve transit in Ontario #onpoli
 
Sounds like great news as long as all Ontario transit authorities get their fair share.

Now if Toronto would bring in some tax raising revenue of it's own strictly for transit than expansion of services could begin sooner rather than later.
 
ssiguy2 said:
Sounds like great news as long as all Ontario transit authorities get their fair share.
Click to expand...

It is a program now in its 10th year and there is a formula (which I don't recall off hand) that splits up the funds..but as the announcement today indicates that 321million is being split, in some fashion, between 96 different transit agencies....not sure how many there are in Ontario but that must be close to all of them.
 
Too bad that the province is backpedaling on the Globe piece - I don't think anything could kick start the TTC into a more pliable and reasonable state of affairs more than a re-introduction of funding from higher governments would.
 
they are backpedalling as they aren't going to be making promises for a program that, if it does happen, won't come around until after a balanced budget is passed in 3 years.

If it does happen, we are a while away from it still.
 
denfromoakvillemilton said:
They have to. Need to balance the budget first.
Click to expand...

Agreed. It'll be interesting to see what the deficit looks like in 2015. If they can increase spending on transit and still take a chunk out of the deficit, I think it'll make people a bit more receptive to investing in infrastructure.
 
The only way you are going to see major new spending next year is if the government gets higher than expected tax revenues, which it is currently consistently getting lower than expected. so no, i doubt it in 2015. The next 3 budgets are going to be pushing big time to drop the deficit. Tory's transit improvements are going to have to come from property taxes.

The capital budget deficit is going to be a huge problem, some of it will be funded through the building Canada fund (which is much larger than the first time around), but there is an absolutely massive gap in it that needs to be filled. Honestly, if the province steps up its capital funding I will be happy. Operating subsidy increases by $30 million for the TTCs wish list are relatively small change comparatively. its the TTCs need for replacement buses, accessible subway stations, new signalling on the Bloor line, etc. that badly needs cash, not the cost to operate a couple of buses or implement 2 hour transfer policies.


The 2015 municipal budget should be fairly easy with the police recommending a 0% increase, they usually take up a huge chunk of new municipal spending that can now be sent elsewhere. The interesting thing will be whether Tory considers the Scarborough subway tax as part of his "tax increases at the rate of inflation" promise or not, as that alone will free up a lot of wiggle room.
 
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