{"id":2508,"date":"2007-11-21T23:00:08","date_gmt":"2007-11-22T03:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=2508"},"modified":"2007-11-22T13:38:22","modified_gmt":"2007-11-22T17:38:22","slug":"2008-budget-in-transit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/11\/21\/2008-budget-in-transit\/","title":{"rendered":"2008 Budget In Transit"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Transit activist Steve Munro<\/a> has some very good updates for the 2008 TTC budget over at his website. It will be a very busy time for the TTC, as it not only continues to replace its bus fleet with low-floor accessible buses, but will be also replacing its subway cars, streetcars and even the Scarborough RT, and building the subway extension to York University and into the car-friendly sprawl of Vaughan. On the operating side, the TTC will have to negotiate a new contract with ATU Local 113, which represents TTC operators and station staff, and increasing ridership and backlogged bus and streetcar service improvements to handle the demand.<\/p>\n

Highlights of the operating budget<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The TTC workforce will increase by about 400 to 10,249 by the end of 2008 mostly due to service improvements. The effect of the bargained ATU wage increase has not yet been estimated, and could eat into the TTC’s operating budget.<\/li>\n
  2. The planned service improvements for Fall 2007 that were postponed will finally take place in February 2008, with further improvements by November. These improvements depend on both vehicle availability and staffing.<\/li>\n
  3. Ridership is expected to be 464 million in 2008, which would be the equivalent to the current record set back in 1988.However, service on surface routes has not kept up, and many routes have less service than 20 years ago, largely due to the devastating Harris-mandated cuts of 1995-6.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Amongst the capital budget highlights<\/a>:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The TTC is considering the purchase of addtional new subway cars, so that the entire Yonge-University-Spadina line would get the new “snake” trains (also known by the unimaginative Toronto Rockets<\/em> moniker), allowing the TTC to remove all the narrow-door trains dating from the 1970s and 1980s. The first of the new subway trains are expected to arrive in 2009.<\/li>\n
    2. The new low-floor streetcars are scheduled to arrive, replacing the current streetcar roster, between 2012-2018. The order goes out in early 2008 but there is now money allocated yet for their purchase. The initial purchase of 204 cars will likely be augmented by more cars for the new Transit City lines.<\/li>\n
    3. The Scarborough RT is also going to be replaced with larger cars and an extension to Markham Road and Sheppard Avenue near Malvern for 2013.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The issue, as Munro points out, is funding. Some of the projects, like the Sorbara, er, Spadina Subway extension to Vaughan is funded, as are the first order of new subway cars. The province also pledged to pick up 2\/3 of the cost of Transit City (with the Federal government supposedly to pick up the other third). But there are also many much-needed capital projects, including the “state of good repair” items, such as the replacement of existing buses and station renovations (where there is already a $700 million shortfall). Then there are the new and expanded garages to hold the new buses planned in the operating budget.<\/p>\n

      It is often worthwhile to read Munro’s blog, which explains the background and issues in more detail, as well as the technical aspects of funding and operating the gigantic TTC.<\/p>\n

      photo by Stephen Gardiner<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Transit activist Steve Munro has some very good updates for the 2008 TTC budget over at his website. It will be a very busy time for the TTC, as it not only continues to replace its bus fleet with low-floor accessible buses, but will be also replacing its subway cars, streetcars and even the ScarboroughContinue reading “2008 Budget In Transit”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4030,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[1405,7397,7398,651,409,7396,1187,391,592],"class_list":["post-2508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-transit","tag-activist","tag-and-building-the-subway-extension","tag-atu-local-113","tag-federal-government","tag-scarborough-rt","tag-stephen-gardiner","tag-steve-munro","tag-usd","tag-york-university"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n2008 Budget In Transit - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/11\/21\/2008-budget-in-transit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2008 Budget In Transit - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Transit activist Steve Munro has some very good updates for the 2008 TTC budget over at his website. 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