It has taken barely over a month for the fortunes of the average transit
rider to turn around completely. In early October, Ontarians elected a new
provincial government under Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty, who promised
to resume funding the TTC after years of neglect. On Monday, Torontonians
chose as mayor David Miller, a long-time advocate for transit and one of
the city councillors that sits on the TTC board. On Tuesday morning, a
senior provincial cabinet mister confirmed that Queen’s Park would help
the city rebuild its transit system.
The catch is that it may cost a fortune to make up for years of minimal
funding for public transit in Toronto and across the province. Miller’s
enthusiastic support of more buses and better service can’t come true
until the TTC first secures enough money to keep running the system as it
is right now. With city coffers almost empty, the TTC has been forced to
consider bringing in fare hikes or service cuts as soon as January.
It will be up to the mayor of the country’s largest city to ensure that
both Queen’s Park and Ottawa provide much-needed help. In his victory
speech only a few hours after polls closed on Monday, the mayor-elect
announced that he had already had “positive” exchanges over the phone with
Premier McGuinty, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and P.M.-to-be Paul Martin.
The next morning, at a national transit conference being held in downtown
Toronto, the new minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal David Caplan
confirmed again that two cents per liter of the provincial gas tax would
go to public transit. Of all the officials present, the most relieved
waslikely TTC Chief General Manager Rick Ducharme.
According to Ducharme, Mr. Caplan was very clear about the funding, in
what was one of the cabinet minister’s first official appearances since
being named to the department responsible for new construction projects.
Ducharme reports that despite an announced $5.6 billion budget deficit,
Caplan said his government will keep its full gas tax commitment. This is
on top of funding for transit renewal that the provincial Liberals also
promised during the recent election.
Paraphrasing the minister, Ducharme states he heard Caplan say, “‘Right
now there’s about $300 million across the province for transit. We are
committed to that. We are also committed to the two cents (gas tax) over
and above that.’” That comes to $600 million dollars, says Ducharme,
adding that if the federal government matches the two cents per litre from
the fuel tax, Ontario transit authorities could net up to $900 million per
year. The TTC chief say the infrastructure minister personally assured him
after the speech that although it had not yet been decided how much each
transit authority would receive, the province’s commitment was firm,
meaning the TTC would finally have access to stable, long-term funding.
This will be good news for mayor-elect David Miller, who on Wednesday
morning is scheduled to address the media at the transit conference, his
first major speech since winning the city’s top post. At noon, in another
first, new Ontario Minister of Transportation Harinder Takhar will deliver
the convention’s closing address.
This is also welcome news for Michael Roschlau, the President of the
Canadian Urban Transit Association, which couldn’t have scheduled its fall
meeting at a better time. He says that having pro-transit mayors in
Winnipeg, Montreal and Vancouver and now in Toronto, will “turn over a
whole new page” in the potential for a national program for investment in
urban transportation.Rick Ducharme, who has held the top job at both GO
Transit and the TTC, finally has some good news to bring both his
employees and riders, although he warns that improvements won’t come
immediately.
“I’ve been in the industry for a long time, and I don’t think we’ve had a
sweeping change like we’ve had here -- with a premier saying very good
things, the mayor obviously on our side and (prime minister-in-waiting
Paul) Martin making the right comments about, well, maybe he’d throw in
the two cents (from the federal gas tax) along with the province. I mean,
when have we ever heard that stuff? Not as long as I’ve been around.”