Toronto Mayor John Tory says he will be “working non-stop to negotiate funding” from the other levels of government to pay for improvements to public transit.
He says he has already started working on securing billions of dollars in government funding to allow the TTC to follow through on an ambitious capital.
Tory spoke to reporters after the TTC released its plan to use $4.56 billion in additional funding that will be comings its way over the coming the next decade as a result of an increase to the city building levy.
About $3.09 billion would be directed to cover the city’s one-third share of various subway state of good repair initiatives, including the installation of an automatic train control system on Line 2.
The remainder would be used to replace vehicles – 80 subway trains, more than 600 new buses and 80 new streetcars.
Tory says the plan is “the most significant investment in upgrading the transit system in the history of the city.”
The plan released last week increases the 2020-29 transit capital plan almost $12 billion, but it will require support from all levels of government.
Rick Leary, chief executive of the Toronto Transit Commission, said in an interview with the Globe and Mail that without the spending the TTC would “lose the reliability of the system and the confidence” of riders.
“This is the necessary requirement to provide good quality public transit in this city,” he said.
About a year ago, the TTC published a $33-billion, 15-year capital budget needed to keep the current system in a state of good repair and buy equipment to meet projected ridership growth. The plan did not fund any new transit lines.
“A majority of the additional capital funds must be committed to the maintenance, repair, and improvement projects required to keep our subway running,” TTC chair Jaye Robinson said in a statement. “While it’s not glamorous, this work – replacing cables, repairing tunnels, rehabilitating tracks, and asbestos removal – is critical to the safe operation of our subway network.
The TTC report is asking the board to “approve key capital priorities for the application of $4.23 billion in net new funding made available through the dedicated City Building Fund and one-time federal gas tax.
Key Capital Investment Priorities for 2020 to 2029:
- $1.50 billion to initiate the Line 1 Capacity Enhancement program
- $817 million to initiate the Line 2 Capacity Enhancement program
- $623 to continue implementation of Line 2 Automatic Train Control (ATC) re-signalling project
- $158 million to fully fund Other Subway Infrastructure state-of-good-repair projects
If approved by the TTC board and city council, the TTC plan could use the bulk of the money generated by the levy.
“We must buy new subway trains, new buses, and new streetcars but we cannot make these purchases alone,” the mayor said in a statement. “I am committed to working with Councillors, City staff and the federal and provincial governments to get on with building much-needed transit for our growing city.”