Whoaccio
Senior Member
I recently returned from a trip to London and noticed the great degree of privatization that had occurred there. As I saw it, the bulk of city services have been subcontracted to private firms. Public transit & waste management were probably the most visible of these services. Anyways, it got me thinking about possible applications in Toronto. I don't think it is a panacea to all of Toronto's problems, but it seems to be at least worth a concerted look.
Usually this debate tends to get characterized by overly dramatic statements on both sides. The main point of contention seems to be a conflict between people who see it as a "race to the bottom" in terms of municipal salaries and people who view it as a one step solution to all of the problems under the sun. I don't really think either is fair. Privatization is not a substitute for solid municipal leadership and governance. If we have bad governance now, dispensing services to the private sector wont change much. Conversely, I don't think it is the City of Toronto's job to provide jobs. Even from a left wing perspective, if we wanted to provide a better experience for less fortunate residents, we would be better off increasing efficiencies and funneling the savings into improved services.
Looking around Canada, there are some quite successful examples of P3s. Take the Canada Line in Vancouver. For 1.5b in public funds, Vancouver has a 19km rt line, a portion of which is through dense urban areas. That works out to a km cost of roughly 80m a km. The Spadina extension, on the other hand, is running at nearly 400m/km for a route which is largely through open fields. The Canada line will also be completed in 9 years from approval to commercial service. A route half as long in Toronto will likely take more time. The cost difference between those two is large enough that it deserves to be more closely examined.
No offense to city personnel, but is 150k $ for a ticket collector really an efficient allocation of resources? The sheer amount of overtime collected throughout the City suggest a serious lack of management. If anyone has any thoughts or relevant information I would really like to get a debate started on it. There are enough examples of responsible privatization working quite well for cities around the world. It seems too good to not look at it.
http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=7&bpn=779108&ts=2008-01-17%2020:00:48.0
http://hosting.epresence.tv/munk/archives/2008_apr22_633444515956275000/?archiveID=62
p.s. I don't know if this is more applicable to the "Toronto issues" section or Transport & Infrastructure section.
Usually this debate tends to get characterized by overly dramatic statements on both sides. The main point of contention seems to be a conflict between people who see it as a "race to the bottom" in terms of municipal salaries and people who view it as a one step solution to all of the problems under the sun. I don't really think either is fair. Privatization is not a substitute for solid municipal leadership and governance. If we have bad governance now, dispensing services to the private sector wont change much. Conversely, I don't think it is the City of Toronto's job to provide jobs. Even from a left wing perspective, if we wanted to provide a better experience for less fortunate residents, we would be better off increasing efficiencies and funneling the savings into improved services.
Looking around Canada, there are some quite successful examples of P3s. Take the Canada Line in Vancouver. For 1.5b in public funds, Vancouver has a 19km rt line, a portion of which is through dense urban areas. That works out to a km cost of roughly 80m a km. The Spadina extension, on the other hand, is running at nearly 400m/km for a route which is largely through open fields. The Canada line will also be completed in 9 years from approval to commercial service. A route half as long in Toronto will likely take more time. The cost difference between those two is large enough that it deserves to be more closely examined.
No offense to city personnel, but is 150k $ for a ticket collector really an efficient allocation of resources? The sheer amount of overtime collected throughout the City suggest a serious lack of management. If anyone has any thoughts or relevant information I would really like to get a debate started on it. There are enough examples of responsible privatization working quite well for cities around the world. It seems too good to not look at it.
http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=7&bpn=779108&ts=2008-01-17%2020:00:48.0
http://hosting.epresence.tv/munk/archives/2008_apr22_633444515956275000/?archiveID=62
p.s. I don't know if this is more applicable to the "Toronto issues" section or Transport & Infrastructure section.