Confusion around which level of government has the final authority on new public transit projects is stalling the construction of much needed infrastructure in the greater Toronto region, according to a new discussion paper from the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
The paper, titled “Building Regional Transportation Now,” calls for a clearer delineation of roles and responsibilities between city council, the TTC, Queen’s Park and Metrolinx in light of the recent political back-and-forth that saw a Metrolinx-backed LRT for Scarborough scrapped by city council and replaced with a three-stop subway extension.
Mayoral candidate Olivia Chow is now campaigning on reversing that council decision and proceeding with the previously planned LRT.
“At the heart of any sound governance structure is accountability and efficient decision making. These elements were clearly not in place with the ongoing Scarborough subway versus LRT debate. Indeed, it demonstrated much confusion around the roles and responsibilities of Metrolinx and who exactly was accountable for driving regional transportation expansion,” the paper states. “An obvious question then is who acts as the final decision maker. Is it the Minister of Transportation, TTC, the Metrolinx board of directors or local councils? Taxpayers just want to know, where does the buck stop?”
Lack of clarity causing delays
Metrolinx was created by the province in 2006 to help guide transit expansion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, but confusion does surround the authority of the crown agency within city boundaries, where local councils are typically on the hook for one third of all project costs.
In addition to the confusion over who has the final say on new public transit projects, the paper says that a “lack of clarity around project planning and management” is also causing needless delays, offering up a recent dispute between the TTC and Metrolinx over who would manage the construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT as proof.
The problem isn’t just affecting infrastructure either.
The paper also expresses concern that the confusion over who is in charge has slowed the rollout of the Presto card for use as a singular fare on GO Transit, the TTC and other public transit agencies and will make the implementation of other region-wide technological improvements more “time consuming and inefficient.”
“Sadly, even though we all criss-cross multiple municipal borders on a daily basis to live, work and study, we are still light years away from having a truly integrated and automated fare system,” the paper says.
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