Last night at Workplace One, politicians and transit advocates gathered to discuss Toronto's current transit crisis, and how we might be able to move forward.
In this city, nothing gets hearts racing and tempers flaring quite like talk of transit. This week alone, we’ve seen the hope of a Transit City revival roadblocked by Mayor Ford’s allies on the TTC board and a new report by Gordon Chong on the feasibility of the Sheppard-subway extension championed by the mayor as chance to build subways to Scarborough because “it’s the right thing to do.” It was under the shadow of this increasingly complicated and storied saga that a number of experts met last night at Workplace One, near Queen and Spadina, to discuss the future of transit in this city.
Moderated by Trinity-Spadina provincial Liberal candidate Sarah Thomson, whose Women’s Post magazine organized the event, and TTC Chair Karen Stintz, whose name has been frequently associated with transit-related controversies of late, the panel included Josh Fullan, a transit advocate and founder of Maximum City; John Tory, former PC party leader and current chair of the Greater Toronto Civic Action Alliance; and Steve Munro, a long-time transit guru who’s been observing and documenting Toronto transit for the past 35 years.
Perhaps indicative of how closely the future of transit is being watched in this city, over 150 people, including a handful of city councilors, crammed into a narrow basement to hear the panel bat around ideas about the future of Toronto’s public transport. Here are five things we learned from last night’s discussion:
1. It’s not simple: Transit is bogged down in bureaucracy and many misconceptions exist in the public’s perception of transit policy.
“Democracy and politics have been the enemy of transit infrastructure in southern Ontario for as long as I’ve been alive,” said Fullan. Though fellow panel members laughed off the intentionally hyperbolic statement, many couldn’t help but agree through subsequent statements that bureaucracy and finger-pointing have been detrimental to transit expansion over the past few decades. “When people talk about transit expansion, there’s a tone of ‘bad motorist, you must pay,’ which is the wrong direction,” said Steve Munro. “Transit must be something that benefits everybody, and it’s very important that, whatever revenue tools are used, they target everybody, not just one group.” Using the example of the transit project the city is currently building, John Tory gave his two cents, stating that the desire for politicians to win has overtaken the public interest, adding that “we wouldn’t be building the York–University line with all the money we had if there hadn’t been politics involved, and that’s a tragedy.”
2. The time is now: We have to start building transit
A consensus opinion among the panel members at last night’s discussion was that the effective break the city has taken from building transit over the past 20 to 25 years (with few exceptions) needs to stop. “We haven’t been doing what other, self-respecting cites have been doing, which is building transit all the time,” said John Tory, whose CivicAction will soon be taking an active role in promoting transit expansion. Sharing an anecdote about a CivicAction event aimed at reversing the brain drain, Tory said that, aside from family and friends, one of the major things that would lure successful expats back to Toronto was improved public transport. And yet, while optimistic talk of a potential national transit strategy was cautious in nature, all panel members acknowledged that the fervour seen in conversations about transit expansion over the past few months was cause for confidence. “People are talking about it,” said Fullan, “and the consensus is that we need to build this transit and we need to engage the public in this conversation.”
3. This won’t be built for free
Panel members all acknowledged that this will likely be the hardest pill for the public to swallow. Transit expansion is going to be expensive, and although there are innumerable ways to finance future building projects (like federal and provincial funding and public-private partnerships), the taxpayers will have to pay. Fullan spoke at length about the fact that, because so little money has been spent on transit over the last 20 years, we are now faced with a very big bill. And though there are revenue tools that the city could implement—such as road tolls, gas taxes, parking surcharges and hydro levies—Fullan was quick to point out that it’s important for politicians to be honest. “These revenue tools are taxes and levies, and if we want public dollars and public oversight for public projects, this is what will be needed,” he said. Munro agreed and spoke about the trouble of establishing a reliable, long-term revenue stream with federal funding: “No one holds a press conference if the Queen streetcar runs on time. Politicians like big projects and ribbon-cutting ceremonies, not incremental improvements—which we need.” In regards to fare increases —which are often a bone of contention among TTC riders who complain about the poor service levels—the panelists were quick to point out that the results of the fare box do not pay for transit expansion and that incremental fare increases may be more widely accepted than freezes, which can lead to jarring increases later on.
4. But hey, at least we have a plan, and with the common sense of the people, maybe we can get something done!
The panelists were asked which city Toronto might look towards as a beacon for building transit. Much has been written about the way Los Angeles’ mayor was able to use a proposition to improve the transit network with tax dollars, and this was done without a transit plan. “At least we have something other cities don’t, and that’s a plan,” said John Tory about L.A. “You can argue about the plan, about its scope and all that, but at least we have a plan that would call for the building of an awful lot of transit.” Despite the existence of a plan, all panelists acknowledged that what was missing was a big chunk of money for funding, and all agreed that public support was vital to future transit development. With CivicAction pounding the pavement over the next few months to inform and educate people about transit, Tory, at least, was confident that “people would do the sensible thing.”
5. There is hope and there are many dedicated, intelligent people who really care
As was evident at last night’s discussion, people are really passionate about transit in this city. After 20 years of inaction, and with a plan in sight, there was a palpable sense that future transit expansion is viable for Toronto. A number of city councillors, including Shelley Carroll and Adam Vaughan, joined Stintz to hear what experts like Munro had to say. Under a great deal of media scrutiny of late, TTC chair Stinz refused to speak with reporters on hand, but was happy to have the discussion flowing. Among the greatest causes for optimism may be a potential national transit strategy, which Tory believes could be implemented in as little as 18 months. As many acknowledged, the voice of council’s left and centrist members had recently been heard, and it will now be up to council as a whole to come to an agreement with the mayor about how to move forward.
