[URBAN NOTE] On what the leak at College Station means about TTC underfunding

[rfmcdonald]

News of a leak of an unidentified substance onto the tracks at College Station that closed down the subway from Yonge and Bloor down to Union made the news. See Transit Toronto and blogTO. David Hains' reaction at Torontoist was more profound than many others.

Remember the $2.7-billion backlog in the TTC’s State of Good Repair and maintenance funding that council-watch killjoys like to talk about? Well, when mysterious pus starts coming out of subway tunnels, that’s a good place to start. And all that talk about how the downtown Yonge line is overburdened, and that building a downtown relief line should be a priority over proposed subway lines that don’t have the ridership demand? Yeah, with tens of thousands of people waiting for a crammed bus or trying to flag a cab, that’s a good place to look, too. Or maybe those revenue tools for a cash-starved transit agency would be a good thing, so they could address both State of Good Repair and capital expansion in the way they need to.

When you’re really frustrated today about missing your morning meeting, remember that this isn’t just a TTC issue. There are years of policies and ongoing politics that contribute to small situations like this. So when you’re thinking about the slippery ooze-like substance that stopped transit, feel free to think of the politicians whose supposed solutions do not reflect the state of the TTC today.

We don't get to keep nice things unless we pay for them.