February 7, 2025 (Toronto, ON) – TTCriders, a membership-based transit advocacy group, released the following statement in response to Premier Ford’s promise that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT will open in 2025.
“Transit costs have skyrocketed under Metrolinx and the public can’t get basic answers about why long-overdue LRTs aren’t open. That’s why we are asking all provincial parties to give the TTC back control over running Toronto transit, to keep costs down and increase accountability.”
A new study from the University of Toronto School of Cities found that “agencies that rely more on external consultants for design, planning, engineering, and management experience higher soft costs than those that rely on in-house staff for the same services.”
Crosslinx Transit Solutions, the consortium building the Eglinton Crosstown, has a 30-year maintenance contract for the LRT. The Crosslinx consortium is made up of some of the same companies that form Rideau Transit Group, which built the Ottawa LRT and also has a 30-year maintenance contract. A public inquiry into two Ottawa LRT derailments found that public-private partnership is “dysfunctional” and that poor maintenance and quality control by a subcontractor of the private consortium was to blame for the second derailment.
TTCriders is holding a rally to open the Crosstown LRT on February 19, 2025. Transit riders will call for answers about why provincially-owned LRTs are not open and seek commitments from all provincial parties to permanently fund the operating costs of new LRTs, clear the TTC’s repair backlog, give the TTC back control to run Toronto transit projects, and chip in for the Eglinton East and Waterfront East LRTs.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2025
Some Toronto residents are pushing back against proposed rapid bus lanes on Bathurst street after an online petition raised more than 1,400 signatures.
TTCriders asked all federal MP candidates from the four major parties about their commitments to public transit. Read their responses to our transit policy survey and see where your candidates stand on improving public transit!