Ontario Transportation Minister, Steven Del Duca spoke at a town hall meeting in Davenport last Wednesday. Here’s what he had to say in response to our concerns about privatization of new transit lines like the Eglinton Crosstown, Finch and Sheppard LRTs.
Steven Del Duca (SDD): Alternative Financing and Procurement (another term for public-private-partnership) is not privatization because the public still owns the assets.
TTCriders: Yes the public owns the transit lines but according to economist, John Loxley, “there is an unprecedented degree of private involvement in and control of public services and assets”. The $5B Eglinton Crosstown contract is locked in for thirty years during which time, the main goal will be to make a profit. This sort of arrangement is often called ‘privatization by stealth’.
SDD: With P3s risk is transferred to the private sector.
TTCriders: In Ontario, risk transfer is often given as a reason why P3s have value for money over building infrastructure publicly. However, since the Auditor General found we lost $8B on infrastructure built using P3s, significant risk was not transferred to the private sector.
The costs overruns for the Presto Fare Card P3 have ballooned from $250 million to $700 million, which according to former Auditor General, Jim McCarter, “makes it one of the most expensive fare card systems in the world.” Instead of obtaining value for money, Metrolinx was a pushover for private multinationals seeking big profits.
SDD: The Auditor General said we lost $8B using P3s to build infrastructure but what the Auditor General failed to mention was that through our Value for Money (VfM) assessment, we saved the province $17B.
TTCriders: Again, this $17B we supposedly saved, is all spin. A VfM assessment is a comparison between the estimated cost of delivering a project publicly or privately. It is not the actual cost of the project. Research has shown projects in Ontario built using P3s cost 16% more. Besides, if they had saved $17B, why would the Wynne government claim we need to sell off Hydro One to pay for new transit?
SDD: We’ve already done public consultation. The public approves of P3s.
TTCriders: Back in 2012, when Metrolinx, CEO Bruce McCuaig announced they were going to use AFP to deliver the Eglinton Crosstown, there was no public consultation. TTC Expansion staff, were told to get out of the offices on Eglinton Avenue so that Metrolinx staff could take over. Essentially, if Toronto Council did not go along with the province’s plan to use P3’s there would be no money for new LRT’s.
We are still waiting to have an open and meaningful discussion about using P3s to deliver new transit in Toronto.
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Use the public sector to build the Eglinton Crosstown LRT
CTV News Toronto’s Beth Macdonell has the details of the TTCRiders report suggesting several routes do not meet on-time performance standards.
According to a new report by the transit advocacy group TTCriders, only ten of the TTC’s bus and streetcar routes are meeting the benchmark for on-time service during rush hour throughout the city. Catalina Gillies with the details.
A new report by the transit advocacy group TTCriders suggests that the TTC’s on-time metrics don’t actually match the transit rider experience.
The report says that riders wait 50 per cent longer than scheduled on 10 routes across the city and transit users wait 30 per cent longer than scheduled on 41 routes. The issue is apparently due to “bunching” – when one bus falls behind and the bus behind it catches up.
The report found that riders on routes where “bunching” is common waited an average of four minutes longer than scheduled.