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New Transit Funding Sources

There are 2 key requirements to make this successful and begrudgingly accepted by the public and hence politically palatable:

First, the money collected must go to a third party sort of set up that is responsible for solely the Gard/DVP and transit much like the Vancouver gas taxes which go directly to Translink. People will not accept this if the money goes to City as they will see it as nothing more than a cash grab to pay for new park, playground, library, pay raise for civil servants, etc.

Second, the City must have projects TRULY shovel ready when {or preferably before} the projects start. People want to know that these taxes will actually do something on the transit file besides more endless consultations, yet another city "study", a 2 year environmental review that should have already been done, and political battles over who gets what. Torontonians are justifiably use to "bold transit plans" being discussed ad nauseam and after all the political battles nothing ever gets built regardless. Everything should be done so the day the tax is introduced is literally when the shovels should hit the ground and not one day after.
 
Juan_Lennon416 said:
How do you know it would be an extra 1 hour in traffic?
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Well if it isn't, your point becomes moot. Of course "an hour" is an estimate, but figure it out! Why do they take the DVP in the first place?
Juan_Lennon416 said:
for many from Durham Region
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So those "many" will slow down the pace even more on Kingston, if not jam it altogether.

I repeat: One has to wonder at the sense of value of those who'd wish to spend an extra hour commuting to save $2.

One could also save the cost of the GO system to travel from east of Toronto to the west by using the Presto card to free transfer the entire distance by going only through the regions on local buses. They'd also save a few dollars not going through Toronto.

Great way to get to work...not.
 
This is a far right flat tax. I don't know why people on the left are supporting this. Let's put in place progressive tax measures to affect us proportionally, not force someone making 25k to pay the same amount as someone making over a million. In terms of Etobicoke, this is only going to make things 20x worse in the Humber Bay Shores area. Can you imagine the additional traffic on Lake Shore holding the 501 in a standstill? It's already nuts. Why should someone who uses the Gardiner for less than 5 minutes (anyone leaving Humber Bay heading west bound to QEW or 427) have to pay over 800$ a year to spend those few minutes on the highway? Lake Shore and The Queensway are going to be traffic nightmares. Not to mention force people to stay in. Why would you take a quick ride at night over to a local shop or market, when before you even buy anything you will be charged 4$. South Etobicoke in particular will be the worse hit, IMO.
 
WislaHD said:
War on the car? More like war on public transit commuter.
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Twaddle and rubbish. Everyone's cost of commuting has risen. Fares should rise each year. Period. Fares should remain constant is a version of "someone else should pay". The cost to run a transit system rises each year. If we like the system weakened, we should keep the fares constant. Then we can all be anguished when the fare rises by 15% after say a lag of 5 years. No thanks.
 
The more I think about this, the more I can see Mayor Tory becoming a one term mayor. IMO he deserves a second term based on this revenue plan alone but I expect Doug Ford to run for the mayor's chair and unfortunately, he has a good chance at winning right now. Tory's plan is a solid, progressive plan that will most likely die under a Mayor Doug Ford.

I don't see the Relief Line, Waterfront LRT or any other project coming for a long time now.
 
toaster29 said:
Why would you take a quick ride at night over to a local shop or market, when before you even buy anything you will be charged 4$.
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Exactly...why would you take the Gardiner for a local quick trip?
StevieD said:
I don't see the Relief Line, Waterfront LRT or any other project coming for a long time now.
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Neither is the charge. The charge will come into play when alternative transit, paid ahead by borrowing against a more solid fiscal security now.
 
StevieD said:
The more I think about this, the more I can see Mayor Tory becoming a one term mayor. IMO he deserves a second term based on this revenue plan alone but I expect Doug Ford to run for the mayor's chair and unfortunately, he has a good chance at winning right now. Tory's plan is a solid, progressive plan that will most likely die under a Mayor Doug Ford.
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Do you really think Doug has a good chance of winning?

I guess it'll depend on the way the media spins it (i.e. a necessity vs a money grab)- the way media spun the Garbage strike back in the Miller days (city 'caving in' to union demands) was one of the reasons why Rob got in.
 
jje1000 said:
Do you really think Doug has a good chance of winning?
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Yes, I do. Tory has come up with an actual situation to paying for new transit. A bold, honest and progressive situation. Unfortunately, I think enough people will fall for Ford's slogans saying he will just find "efficiencies" and whatnot.
 
So let's say Toronto and it's city council wants to toll the highway and the vote in favour and the Tories get in power, could they block it? If they try that Toronto should send them the bill for all the unfunded projects this toll is supposed to pay for.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
I got it. The toll will generate $160 Million per year. This report is saying that $1.40 of the $2.00 toll will need to go towards paying for the Gardiner rebuild over the first 10 years.

That's fine, in my opinion. Remember this road toll generating $160 Million/year isn't the only revenue source for transit. We also have the $70 Million property tax levy and $20 Million hotel tax, totalling $250 Million/year. The first four years of these revenues will be dedicated to the Gardiner and the rest is free to be used on transit. Let's not let those four years being dedicated to the Gardiner cause opponents to throw out potentially decades of sustained transit building progress. This is the closest we've been to having a municipal source to fund a continual program of rapid transit expansion. We need to push forward. Dedicating four years of revenue to the gardiner is a small price to pay for that.
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Are we overlooking entirely the federal government? I am expecting a big dollop from them.
 
StevieD said:
Yes, I do. Tory has come up with an actual situation to paying for new transit. A bold, honest and progressive situation. Unfortunately, I think enough people will fall for Ford's slogans saying he will just find "efficiencies" and whatnot.
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We all saw how that worked last time around. There are enough anti Ford people around to keep Tory in power.
 
steveintoronto said:
Exactly...why would you take the Gardiner for a local quick trip?
Neither is the charge. The charge will come into play when alternative transit, paid ahead by borrowing against a more solid fiscal security now.
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You obviously don't live at Humber Bay Shores. There isn't much retail in the area. The easy access to the Gardiner is what is convenient about this area, and is the only way to get to retail and shopping quickly (8 minutes to Sherway). Not to mention getting to kids soccer games, or hockey practises in the winter.
 
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