I don't thing anyone is arguing that it hasn't been promised. What's being argued is that this is a Metrolinx line, so fare structure can be changed at their whim.
Literally directly above my post nfitz remarked "There's a difference between it being using the TTC fare system (which is what Tory promised) and being the TTC fare. Which TTC fare? What about the TTC premium fare of $5.70 that you pay for using the 140-series express buses. Are those not part of the TTC fare system?
What we've been promised by both the city (Tory) and the province is fare integration - not identical fares!"
I read that as an unambiguous argument that Tory
hasn't promised SmartTrack will use identical fares, just the same fare system. So I'd have to disagree with your point that nobody is arguing that. Clearly, someone is.
For example, SmartTrack can be opened with TTC fare structure. Years later, long after people have forgotten about the fare promise, Metrolinx can say that operations are too expensive, so fares need to be hiked.
That is a possibility. It's just as much a possibility that (if the line were under TTC control), the City could decide to impose some kind of fare hike (brand it an 'express route' and charge 2x fare). We did have the City threaten to mothball subways, for instance, so I'm not sure why I'd expect the TTC to treat ST with kid gloves.
Frankly, unless ST is designed with interchanges that make allowance for fare gates between its platforms and TTC bus/subway/LRT platforms, the logistics of actually doing this seem impractical.
What people need to realize is that, as proposed, Toronto has zero control over this line once it's built. If the province wants to raise fares, there is nothing stopping them.
Also, this is not a TTC line, this is a Metrolinx line owned and operated by Metrolinx. People need to stop viewing SmartTrack as a municipal initiative, and start looking at it as a Metrolinx line (just like any of the GO rail lines).
Same for the ECLRT or virtually any other Metrolinx project. Clearly transit operations are a heavily inter-governmental field nowadays. This hasn't been an issue in other jurisdictions, where different levels of government maintain parallel yet fully fare integrated transit networks.
It's also very early to judge the exact institutional structure of ST. Based on campaign platforms, Tory expects the city to pay for 1/3rd of the line's capital costs. Presumably such a sizeable contribution would merit some kind of performance obligations on the ST operating vehicle to maintain certain desired frequencies and fare structures. I doubt the City of Toronto would just give over a few billion dollars to a project without any kind of service quid-pro-quo.
Also, ultimately, the City is a Provincial creature anyhow. If QP/Metrolinx wants to screw with the TTC it could always do that. While the Province could be as destructive towards the TTC as it wants and politics allows, this does seem like making mountains outta mole hills.
ST as of yet is extremely vague. It's almost guaranteed to change substantially before opening, assuming it ever opens at all. I'm not sure what's gained from fretting about hypothetically pernicious Provincial governments decades from now.
