When it comes to transit, province has a blind spot
It should come as no surprise that a government that would spend billions bailing out the auto industry would also cut billions from public transit.
If it's true that action speaks louder than words, there can be no doubt about where the province's intentions lie – and it's not on the subways, or LRTs, or buses.
According to no less a source than Premier Dalton McGuinty himself, the future can only be achieved through public transit. It is the underpinning, he has said, of economic prosperity and social equity. It also happens to make a whole lot of sense in light of the growing environmental imperative.
Cutting $4 billion from Metrolinx's already inadequate allocation of $9.3 billion is a giant step backward at a time when Toronto, the GTA and Ontario can least afford it. The city has already lost ground after decades of short-term thinking such as this.
The advent of a regional transit authority, Metrolinx, and Toronto's Transit City program was offered up as a turning point, the start of a newer, smarter, era that would see the Greater Golden Horseshoe join the 21st century.
But now that times are tough, the province has reverted to form and settled for the same old, same old. Gridlock and endless sprawl will have to do for the moment because we can't afford the start-up costs of public transit. No matter that the long-term costs of the status quo will be horrendous.
In the same budget, however, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan also announced that more money would go to education. The province wants Ontarians to be smart, and no one could disagree with that, but Ontarians must also live smart. That will be harder now.
Most depressing of all, perhaps, is that the budget also illustrated that when it comes right down to it, public transit is not a political priority. McGuinty has calculated that he can afford the fallout from chopping transit, most of which is centred on Toronto – never a popular cause in Ontario, as we have been reminded many times.
Still, when the price of political expediency is so high, one can't help but wonder how it can be justified.
If it were simply a question of Toronto keeping up with the Joneses, no one would worry. But we are 25 or more years behind where we should be. The TTC appears to be in free fall and, even fully funded, regional transit is full of gaps.
And although the writing is on the wall, no politician at any level is willing to broach the topic of road tolls, parking fees and congestion charges. Even in the United States, a nation built on the automobile and real estate, drivers pay to drive on highways and cross bridges without a peep. Not only must these revenue sources be exploited in Toronto and Ontario, the money raised should be dedicated to public transit.
Despite what our leaders seem to believe, continued failure to act intelligently is not the answer to Ontario's problems; it is the problem. Think of once-dominant cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit, Liverpool, Manchester or Montreal that no longer have more than regional significance.
Great cities vary widely but one shared characteristic is great transit – New York, London or Paris. Indeed, transit is a precondition to civic greatness. One doesn't happen without the other.
In delaying public transit yet again, the province has made it that much harder for Toronto and Ontario to realize their dreams of a brighter future.
Not only do the poor get poorer, the dumb get dumber.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/787349--when-it-comes-to-transit-province-has-a-blind-spot
