McGuinty (kind of) commits to Transit City

A letter written last week by the province to the Toronto's City Manager Joe Pennachetti has confirmed that the four previously planned transit lines will be build. The sticking point is that instead of being built within eight years, all the new lines will be constructed in ten years. The letter hints that Metrolinx, the provincial organization, public authority which manages transportation planning for public transportation within the GTA, has devised a plan to maintain the four new transit lines from the Transit City initiative. Also included in the plan is York Region's express bus lanes, in spite of the $4 billion funding cut over the next five years:

Initial work by Metrolinx suggests that the four Transit City projects can reasonably be completed in 10 years, while achieving the required savings of $4 billion in the first five years.

Sorry there Dalton, but I'm still somewhat skeptical. Regardless, the McGuinty government had repeatedly committed and pledged $9.5 billion to Metrolinx and Transit City. However, when Finance Minister Dwight Duncan tabled the budget in March, $4 billion in spending was cut for the transit expansion, over the following five years.

A rightfully angry Mayor David Miller immediately feared the massive cutback would result in one or possibly more of the Transit City lines being cancelled. McGunity has since continued to assure the mayor and Torontonians that all of the planned lines would proceed, but over a longer period. It remains to be seen if the new ten year plan will include any alterations to the original projects. The new Metrolinx strategy will have the Sheppard line built according to the original timeline and completed in 2013, so this will probably result in the other lines being completed at a later date than originally proposed.

The provincial government's letter was a reply to City Manager Joe Pennachetti's enquiry, who requested the provincial transit funding plan over the following five and ten years. Stuart Green, a spokesman for Mayor Miller, said the province's response doesn't attend to Toronto's concerns:

We asked for a breakdown of the funding over the next five to 10 years. The response we have just received doesn’t do that so, no, it does not satisfy the mayor’s concerns.

Miller told the Toronto media that he has continually asked the McGuinty government, over the course of three weeks, to commit in writing that the $4 billion be restored in the provincail budget for 2015-2020:

I can tell you what I’m afraid of. The TTC is ready to start Eglinton and Finch (lines) this year. All we need is the go-ahead. I’m very worried that the provincial budget is going to push the start of construction on those lines past the next provincial election. Then you don’t even have an announcement; all you have is another election promise.

On April 7, Toronto proposed to the McGuinty government that the city wold finance the $4 billion now, so that the planned projects will go forward, and then essentially the loan could be payed back to the provice with the origninally promised $4 billion the provincial government had promised to invest into the city's public transit expansion. Miller also elaborated that the interest rates would be lower than the approximately $100 million the city would have to spend on new buses, in order to cope with rider increase, if the new lines aren't built on time:

They will not absolutely commit to putting money back in and they will not consider the financing strategy which would keep the lines going on now. We offered a solution. It’s cheaper for us to help finance the province for a few years if they’re going to absolutely put the money back in.

But Metrolinx chief executive Rob Prichard downplayed the proposal, as he feels it "would indirectly increase the province’s debt, undermining its commitment to fiscal responsibility. If the city borrows money and the province promises to repay it, that becomes part of the provincial debt. If the city has spare funds to spend on transit, Metrolinx would warmly welcome the city's contributions to those projects".

So, in a nutshell:

• The provincial McGuinty government is more concerned with the provincial debt, it's re-election chances in 2011, and therefore is playing crummy politics with the City of Toronto, the sixth largest government in Canada whose population is constantly increasing, with therefore a growing demand and need for increased public transportation.

• The Sheppard and VIVA projects are in full swing and will continue on schedule.

• The construction of the Eglinton line will commence in 2012 instead of this year.

• The Finch West line will begin construction in 2013 instead of this year.

• The SRT will continue to run but after the Pan Am Games in 2015, it will be shut down and rebuilt. Previously used Mark I ICTS cars from Vancouver will be bought to augment the existing fleet during the wait.

• Metrolinx apparently may make an announcement concerning the purchase of light-rail transit vehicles from Bombardier for these new lines.

• The entire Metrolinx plan should be unveiled after their next board meeting, scheduled for May 19.

The bottom line is that the pressure needs to be kept up on the McGuinty government, who are using this as a political ploy for their reelection bid in 2011, as a hardcore right-wing Tim Hudak government would likely squash Transit City and therefore public transit expansion as well as Toronto's hope for future economic growth and prosperity. McGuinty is craftily playing the fiscally conservative angle, while projecting the image that the alternative would be worse. However, we don't have a two-party system, and contrary to what Kathleen Wynne seems to think, we have Toronto (NDP) MPPs standing up for Toronto: