TTC FARE HIKE
• TTC okays 25-cent fare hike [ Toronto Sun ]
• TTC Fare hike called ‘a small Band-Aid on a big problem’ [ Globe & Mail ]
• TTC raises fares, lessens blow [ National Post ]
• TTC approves fare increase [ CBC News ]
• TTC fare hike a low blow, commuters say [ Toronto Star ]
• TTC to raise fares [ Toronto Star ]
• Token rationing causes big lines as TTC riders try to beat the hike [ Globe & Mail ]
TRANSIT
• Eglinton LRT clears latest hurdle [ National Post ]
• GO Transit mulls expanding service to Niagara region [ National Post ]
• Private-sector cash sought to bankroll major projects [ National Post ]
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• Report urges transformation of Toronto’s financial sector [ Globe & Mail ]
• Pride 2009’s economic impact: $136-million [ Globe & Mail ]
• T.O.’s financial ranking set to rise [ Toronto Sun ]
OTHER NEWS
• Harper government plans to move G20 summit to Toronto [ Globe & Mail ]
• Off the streets and in school Beyond 3:30
[ National Post ]
• Scrap A La Cart program, councillors say [ Toronto Sun ]
• These corners are killers [ Toronto Sun ]
• Lawyer takes aim at bike lane blockers [ Toronto Sun ]
• Green bin cutback riles business [ Toronto Star ]
• Curtain falls on Carlton Cinemas [ Globe & Mail ]
• Toronto looks to ban corporate, union donations [ Globe & Mail ]
• A facelift for an aging beauty [ Globe & Mail ]
3 comments
TTC fares:
Many are suggesting firing staff or lowering wages, but this is a bit like finding a penny when you’re in need of a hundred bucks. Since the 1990s, the TTC is the only public transit system in the world that doesn’t get funding for its operating budget from senior levels of gov’t. About 75% of its operating budget is covered by fares, the highest in Canada. (The feds and province do cover some of the capital budget.)
From the G&M ‘Band-Aid’ article – “I’m optimistic that there won’t be any cuts to service.”
That’s the kind of bold statement that makes him a primo mayoral candidate.
That statement is a sign of what’s broken about this process. The settings of fares should have gone hand in hand with a decision about service levels and city subsidy. If the amount of city subsidy is not yet final, the fare increase should have been held until then – instead we get an increase which only solves half the problem. What if the City can’t come through with the 50pc (and we know the Province is in no shape to come through given an impending $20bn deficit)? Another hike or service cuts.
The size of the approved fare increase follows on politically directed years of fare freezes, a corollary the Mayor said was not reasonable in the case of a freeze in garbage rates for 2010 post-strike.
Instead we see the 3rd level subsidy introduced which, justified or not, came out of nowhere (anyone seen a TTC Staff Report to confirm the Admiral’s $2.5m number by the way?). That subsidy only makes sense in a year when no service cuts are made – which doesn’t sound like the TTC in 2010 to me.
The chickens are coming home to roost after years of cry baby politics and fiscal irresponsibility of the City in general. Responsible politicians are supposed to plan for the bad times but ours bury their heads in the sand and lead us down the garden path of promises only to walk us over a cliff. The only bright side is that both Miller and Giambrome will soon be gone but we we still be left with the unholy mess they have created.