TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Since:
1. rapid transit projects will have 50-100 year lives, if not longer
2. long-term interest rates are really low
Why can't we consider a long-term funding solution for transit, where a provincially-guaranteed agency borrows the money very long-term (which probably means 30 years) with a 50-year plan to pay off the debt via a mix of GTA road tolls, additional taxes on parking spaces and perhaps an additional GTA gasoline tax. The notion we have to pay for transit out of general provincial revenues is pretty much a guarantee we'll never build anything more. And the idea that we can only pay as we go for projects more or less ensures we'll never build anything remotely adequate.
Exactly what I've been thinking. Take out a loan for $XX Billion and create legislation to ensure it's paid off in full over a few decades via transit tax. Nothing wrong with carrying a little debt. But the big issue with this is that the Conservatives would surely scream about this plan. If this were to be done, now would be the time to do it before the Conservatives get in power.