[URBAN NOTE] "Report outlines steep costs of running new Toronto transit lines"

[rfmcdonald]

Ben Spurr and Jennifer Pagliaro describe in the Toronto Star the immense costs involved with new mass transit routes. Of course, city government has no idea how to pay for them. Yay Toronto transit.

The City of Toronto is on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in transit costs that many believed the province would pay for.

According to a city report released on Monday, Toronto will be responsible for funding the operation and day-to-day maintenance of new LRT lines that the province is paying to build.

The report outlines the outcomes of negotiations between the province and city on a number of transit projects, including the Eglinton Crosstown, Finch West, and Sheppard East LRT lines, as well as Mayor John Tory’s SmartTrack plan. It was originally supposed to go before Tory’s executive committee last week but wasn’t completed in time. The terms of the agreement have still to be approved by council.

The report estimates that the gross operating and maintenance costs for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT will be $80 million a year when it opens in 2021. The cost will be offset by increased fare revenue and savings the TTC will reap by not running bus service on Eglinton, bringing the net cost to the city down to $39 million a year.

Estimates for the gross operating costs of the other provincially funded LRT lines are: $51.5 million in 2022 dollars for the Finch West LRT, and $38.1 million in 2025 for the Sheppard East LRT.

It’s not clear how the city will raise the funds to operate and maintain these lines.