An exclusive report by the Star that new road tolls and congestion charges will be needed to deliver the $4 billion Sheppard subway has caused a stir among city councillors and business groups.
Claims that the private sector will step in and build the line on its own are not realistic, Gordon Chong, head of Toronto Transit Infrastructure Ltd., told the Star’s Royson James in an interview.
Chong is a former TTC commissioner who was hand-picked by Mayor Rob Ford to hammer out the details of his transportation plan. His comments fly in the face of promises by the mayor that taxpayers will not foot the bill for new subway lines.
“This could be the wake up call for Torontonians to realize how foolish from a business perspective the mayor’s Sheppard subway proposal really is,” said Councillor Joe Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul’s), a former vice-chair of the Toronto Transit Commission.
Ford has not provided details on where he would find $4 billion in private-sector funding for a 13-kilometre Sheppard subway extension that would take that line from Downsview east to Scarborough Town Centre.
In a campaign video from last September that outlines his transportation plan, Ford promises to take a “sensible approach to improve transportation and reduce congestion.”
“My plan does not include any new taxes, tolls, or congestion charges,” he says in the video.
Ford could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre) said the notion of using tolls would require careful consideration and further study.
“I certainly think we would approach tolls with caution and you would want to determine the result of that,” Holyday said.
Chong, known as a close adviser to the mayor, should be commended for putting a “politically unpalatable” idea on the table, said councillor Josh Colle (Ward 15, Eglinton-Lawrence).
“If we want to build subways, or invest in any transportation infrastructure, we have to look at ways to pay for that. I commend him for giving everyone a reality check. For some it may be more like a bucket of cold water in the face, but it was needed,” said Colle, who is trying to establish an anti-gridlock task force.
The city hopes to get some money from the Sheppard line from a $1.2 billion federal infrastructure program available for public projects with private investors.
The Toronto Board of Trade said that it welcomes a broader discussion on transit infrastructure financing. “It is very clear that if we are going to expand transit infrastructure, especially subways, it requires us to explore the broadest possible range of financing solutions,” Richard Joy, vice president of policy and government relations, said in an email.
A Toronto Star-Angus Reid poll conducted in April 2010 found that nearly seven in 10 GTA respondents reject the idea of $5 tolls on highways such as the DVP or Gardiner. However, the opposition is less fierce among residents within the city of Toronto, or when told the funds would be dedicated to improving public transit.
