I
must admit to being a little confused about the latest squabble over
GO Transit funding. After years of very little money from the
Ontario government, the system finally has a healthier cash flow,
and we’re now waiting to see if Ottawa will chip in too. So what’s
the latest problem? Leaders of many cities and regions in Greater
Toronto are upset that Queen’s Park expects them to help fund new
tracks and bus-only transit lanes.
What’s at stake
is the pace at which GO will expand its suburban rail and bus
network into areas that currently have minimal service. The leaders
of areas with many GO routes are balking at the cost of projects
like new train service to Barrie. Meanwhile riders patiently wait
for the politicians to sort themselves out and get down to improving
service.
Like TTC
riders, GO patrons pay the lion’s share of costs to keep the system
running every day. At over 80 percent, that’s a greater proportion
than most transit riders on the planet -- an often repeated but
remarkable statistic. The province covers the rest of GO’s daily
operating needs, but of course that money is derived largely from
taxes.
Compared to the
bad old days -- after the former Progressive Conservative government
dumped GO Transit into the laps of municipal councils in 1997 -- the
current situation is much more stable. The transit system had to
rely on local property taxes to keep running, but the cities and
regions were also coping with a other new costs and GO could only
increase train and bus service on a limited scale. The lean times
led to innovation, and transit officials worked with the railways to
squeeze new trips into the train schedule -- using the same number
of locomotives and cars.
Ridership
grew fast, outstripping capacity to the point that some commuter
trains seem as crowded as subway cars. In 2001, the provincial
Tories caught on that highway-building wasn’t enough to solve
worsening gridlock in the GTA, and reclaimed responsibility for GO.
Then the Liberals under Dalton McGuinty moved into Queen’s Park last
fall, after promising to make transit a big priority. Now the
province takes care of GO’s operating subsidy and the hefty capital
maintenance budget, and the cities and regions help pay for
expansion projects through development charges on new buildings.
In
the meantime, many local transit services like the TTC and
Mississauga Transit have gone begging, relying on their respective
city councils just to keep running. But demand far exceeds the
supply of buses and streetcars -- and heavy crowding continues on
many routes. Both the province and the federal governments have
promised to give municipalities gas tax funds, and when the money
actually appears, local politicians want to use it on local transit
-- not GO.
Late
yesterday, a spokesperson for Ontario minister of transportation
Harinder Takhar told In Transit that the province is simply asking
for local councils to pay for one third of expansion projects. Danna
O’Brien underlines that Queen’s Park still pays for operating and
maintenance costs - more than half of GO’s budget. In question is a
sum of $35 million or so that the municipalities will be asked to
pay every year. Durham Region Chairman Roger Anderson says that
local councils already collect money for GO through the development
charges, and shouldn’t be asked to pay more from their general
budgets.
He
says, “The issue is that GO Transit is a provincial responsibility,
and the province should pay for it.” According to O’Brien, there’s
nothing that makes the municipalities contribute these extra funds,
but all GTA regions and cities benefit from improved GO service.
Nevertheless, the minister’s spokesperson adds, “We’re hoping to
come up with a new cost-sharing agreement by the fall.”
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