There is liable
to be a lot of serious discussion about transit this week -- much of
it behind the scenes. The provincial budget is due Thursday, and
many are hoping it contains funding for a subway extension to York
University, plus other projects across the GTA. Other riders, public
officials and transit advocates have strong reservations about
whether the subway plan should be Toronto’s top priority.
Dozens of
proposals are circulating for new train, bus and light rail lines,
and one way to determine which are worthy is to create a single body
that would oversee transport planning. Ontario’s Ministry of
Transportation (MTO) is charged with creating the proposed Greater
Toronto Transportation Authority, but with so many municipalities to
bring together it’s taking a while.
If the GTTA
becomes a reality, the province needs to ensure the agency has the
funding necessary to convincingly deal with congestion. Vancouver’s
TransLink covers the entire urban region there, raising money from
gas taxes, fees and parking surcharges -- and not without
controversy. Representatives from area municipalities have to
compromise in order to move ahead on new bridges, highways and
transit lines.
I asked MTO
whether I could get a list of the “stakeholder” organizations that
have been consulted so far regarding Ontario’s proposed authority.
Spokesperson Bob Nichols reports, “We are still in negotiations and
consultations, so we cannot provide a list at this time. We hope to
have more to say on (the GTTA) shortly.”
MTO has not yet
sought the advice of the general public or independent advocates --
the people who use buses and trains regularly. David Fisher of
Mississauga follows regional transit issues closely, and he believes
any decision-making body should be comprised of a mixture of
municipal representatives and frequent users.
He tells In
Transit the GTTA board should be constituted “along the lines of
TransLink, but there must be four transit users on that board.” He
adds, “There would a Transit Advocate Group that is comprised of
four groups for the various areas of the GTA.”
Fisher proposes
“Each area is to set up a board of directors and hold monthly
meetings.” He also wants to see frequent users sit on the governing
committee of “each local transit system in their area, to advise
those systems as to riders’ concerns and have input into the transit
budget each year.”
Toronto area
business groups have also weighed in, calling for Queen’s Park to
include private enterprise in the financing of new transportation
projects.
A lot of ideas
will be also be exchanged today and tomorrow, as The Strategy
Institute holds its 4th Annual GTA Transportation Summit in Toronto.
Conference attendees will hear from representatives of the
provincial and federal governments, as well as speakers from major
transport authorities in Berlin, Vancouver, Madrid and Liverpool.
Perhaps there
is an organization in the GTA with the resources to help arrange a
free public forum on transit. If you work with such a group, please
contact me via
transit@eddrass.com.