[URBAN NOTE] "TTC union vows to make next federal election the 'transit election'"

[rfmcdonald]

blogTO and Torontoist were two blogs highlighting the TTC transit workers' union report calling for mass transit to become a Canadian election issue. I'm inclined to think this a good thing.

Whether the candidates choose to talk about it or not, the next federal election will focus on Toronto's transit problems, according to TTC union boss Bob Kinnear.

"The transit election," as he calls it, will be an effort to get better funding for the TTC.

"We don't have to wait another five or 10 or 15 years to improve transit in Toronto, we can start now," said Kinnear at a press conference Monday morning at city hall.

Kinnear and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) released 68 recommendations on how to improve public transit in the city. Much of what he's calling for has to do with funding. He said there is no other North American transit system that gets less money for operations than the TTC.

But Kinnear stressed his union was neither for or against SmartTrack, mayor-elect John Tory's plan to add rail lines and stations, mainly along existing GO Transit corridors.

He did raise an issue about which transit body will be responsible for integrating SmartTrack. "When you integrate a new system that is not going to be maintained by the TTC," Kinnear said, "there are serious concerns."

Kinnear said there was a $270-million funding gap in the TTC. He said the problem is worse than people think.

"Toronto has an unprecedented transit crisis," he warned, urging more sustainable funding from the federal government.

"Ottawa, we have a problem. No let me rephrase that. Ottawa, you have a problem."