Now we need to keep the pressure on! City Council is on the verge of approving a deal with Premier Ford. This is our chance to insist on a good deal for Toronto.
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Have your say at the October 23 Executive Meeting. Sign up.
Here’s your guide to the key issues in the proposed transit deal between Premier Ford and Toronto City Council:
1. Premier Ford is calling the shots on transit planning. The City is being asked to say “yes” to the Ontario Line and provide federal PTIF funds. But under Bill 107, the province gets to decide where and when to build new transit lines. Transit planning should stay in Toronto’s hands.
2. The TTC should cost one fare to ride. But there are no guarantees in the proposed agreement that the Ontario Line (or any future line) will be integrated with the TTC for a single fare. And we know that Metrolinx is considering introducing pay-by-distance and pay-by-speed.
3. We can’t afford more delays to transit. But there are no guarantees that the Ontario Line will be built on time and on-budget. TTCriders was looking for real evidence about how quickly the Ontario Line can be built, and at what cost.
This line from the City report says it all: "Given the current stage of the project and the early state of design and development, the City and TTC are unable to assess the validity of the stated timetable or the estimated cost at this time." TTC CEO Rick Leary has also raised questions about the Ontario Line capacity, suggesting that the line may reach full capacity in only 35 years.
4. Scarborough transit riders are being left in limbo. The province is moving ahead with their plan for a 3-stop Scarborough subway, even though it will delay the line opening until 2030. But the Scarborough RT can’t make it that long - it’s set to be decommissioned in 2026. The report says that the City and Province will negotiate about who will pay to continue maintaining the SRT, or “replacement transit service in Scarborough as a result of the change.” (Translation: Scarborough RT users will be riding buses).
5. The province should provide fair TTC operations & capital funding. Under the proposed deal, the TTC will be stuck with paying to operate new lines that the province owns. The Province is agreeing to help negotiate contributions from other municipalities, but there are no clear agreements in place yet.
6. The province isn’t budging on transit funding cuts. The province cut promised funding to transit agencies across the province, including $1.1 billion to the TTC over the next 10 years. Could gas tax funding from the province change even further? The report states that gas tax funding “is based on a 30% population and 70% ridership allocation of funds across municipalities. Potential impacts to the PGT program in future from the province owning a portion of the TTC-operated network are not known at this time and are subject to the evolution of the program over time” (p. 11).
7. The deal leaves the door open to privatization. The proposed agreement says that the “TTC will continue to operate the existing network, and will maintain day-to-day operations of the four Provincial priority projects as they come into service, including labour relations. With respect to maintenance functions and service levels/standards, the Province will work with the City and TTC to further define roles and responsibilities through operating and maintenance agreements.”
This could leave the door open for the privatization of TTC maintenance, even without provincial ownership of the TTC subways. We also know that the province will build the Ontario Line as a public-private partnership, which will be less accountable to residents.
8. The Eglinton East LRT and Waterfront LRT need to be back on the map. Under the proposed agreement, the City would not need to make capital funding contributions to the province’s priorities. It could use this freed-up capital funding (between $5.1 to $6 billion) for state-of-good-repair needs, and ”the Province would also consider the redirection of these funds to investment in other transit expansion priorities identified by Council.”
This could free up funds for Toronto priorities like the Eglinton East and Waterfront LRTs. But the City of Toronto cannot fund its priorities alone. Premier Ford must rescind Bill 107 and contribute to Toronto’s priority transit projects, not impose his plans without consultation.
9. Meaningful public consultation is needed to respect community concerns. Neighbourhoods all along the proposed Ontario Line, from Thorncliffe Park to West Donlands, are raising concerns about safety, environmental, and noise impacts. Many of these neighbourhoods were part of consultations about the Relief Line and are concerned about wasting their work and delays to transit. Real community consultation is needed on transit projects - so far none has happened along the Ontario Line.