2017 New Year’s letter from the president

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Press Releases and Open Letters

Welcome to the New Year of 2017. May it be happy and prosperous for you!

Our path forward Transport Action Ontario has a full agenda for 2017. In the fall of 2016, TAO decided to focus its advocacy on intercity rail and connectivity, the integration of public transport into a network of services that includes intercity rail, regional bus and rail services, and local transit. We will oppose the bad and the ugly, support the good, and call for and champion initiatives that take Ontario closer to a sustainable public transportation system. We highly value local public transit, but will rely on and work with other groups already doing transit advocacy. Metrolinx will remain as a focus as a provider of regional intercity transit.

Ontario is facing a large public transportation deficit. Most of the province is without intercity or even local public transportation. While the Province has invested in transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, and in Ottawa, the rest of the province is stuck with auto-dependency. There is a heavy price to auto-dependency which disadvantages students and seniors and people with low incomes generally. Auto-dependency is a drag on local economic development hampering labour mobility and spurring depopulation. While the Province recognizes that it must work to help reverse climate change, it has not recognized that a key way to do that is to provide public transport alternatives to the whole of Ontario.

Southwestern Ontario Cuts to VIA Rail service in 2012 hit Southwestern Ontario particularly hard. TAO, along with several other local groups, looked at how an integrated network of rail and bus services could be brought to this part of Ontario. The Network Southwest plan, written by Greg Gormick and released in 2015, proposes a provincially supported bus network integrated with an upgraded and expanded rail network. Frequent train service using bi-level passenger cars following the model of state-supported Amtrak services in California and elsewhere in the U.S. is highlighted. Another report in 2016, also written by Gormick, explores the concept of High Performance Rail in detail.

The objectives of these two reports still apply. Southwestern Ontario desperately needs integrated public transportation. In 2017 TAO will give special attention to the North Main Line, the rail line between Toronto, Guelph, Kitchener, Stratford, St. Marys and London. VIA Rail is providing very poor and extremely unreliable train service on this route. The Province has mandated Metrolinx to offer commuter rail service from Kitchener into Toronto, but Metrolinx’s commuter trains make many stops and are slow. Moreover, the transportation demand along the North Main Line doesn’t end at Kitchener. It extends west to Stratford and London. It is time for frequent all-day two-way express rail service the full length of the Innovation (Knowledge) Corridor Toronto-Kitchener-London. TAO will be advocating high performance rail for this corridor with a delivery agency to be worked out through agreements between the feds, the province, and the municipalities being served.

Northern Ontario The cancellation of the Northlander between Toronto, North Bay and Cochran in 2012, the infrequency and unreliability of VIA’s Canadian across northwestern Ontario, declining intercity bus service, and the recent suspension of the Sault-Hearst train underscore the substantial decline in public transportation options for northern Ontario. In 2017, TAO will continue to work closely with the Northeastern Ontario Rail Network based in North Bay, and the Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains based in the Sault to bring back and enhance rail/bus and transit services for Ontario’s north.

Eastern Ontario VIA Rail has proposed building a new exclusive passenger railway from Toronto to Smith Falls through Peterborough and Havelock as part of its High Frequency Rail plan. VIA is proposing frequent rail service between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal on this route using non-stop trains. TAO is opposed to this plan as costly and unnecessary. VIA has already paid close to half a billion dollars for added track on CN’s Lakeshore route Toronto-Kingston-Brockville-Montreal to help reduce conflicts between passenger and freight trains on this route. Perhaps in anticipation of blow back from cities such as Belleville and Kingston, VIA recently proposed adding almost hourly train service to the Lakeshore route in addition to the new dedicated track proposal. TAO’s position is to support frequent high performance passenger rail along the Lakeshore route by investing scarce capital funds on continuing to upgrade the Lakeshore line with the aim of having both frequent express trains Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal connecting with stopping trains serving cities in eastern Ontario.

Ongoing projects As part of the Move the GTHA collaborative, TAO will continue to push for new dedicated revenue sources for transporation investment. If implemented properly, these can provide funding needed for public transport improvements all across Ontario. There continues to be a need for federal legislation definiing the rights and obligations of passenger rail in Canada, especially if operating on track owned by the freight railways. We have been inputting into a Private Members Bill on this topic to be introduced in 2017.

Longer term TAO supports rail investments to upgrade international connections to the U.S. from Ontario. Both New York and Michigan are investing to implement high performance rail, in New York between Niagara Falls and New York City, and in Michigan between Detroit and Chicago. TAO supports passenger rail connections between Ontario and the U.S. at Niagara Falls and at Windsor.

Highlighted above are several big issues for TAO in 2017. Others will surely arise. We look forward to your support through membership and donations that will help us carry forward these and other activities to achieve sustainable integrated public transportation for Ontario.

Tony Turrittin, President, January 3, 2017

Transport Action Ontario featured in article on road tolls

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Latest News , Urban Transit

Note to Readers:   with the approval of expressway tolls in Toronto, interest in road tolling has spiked all across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.  Transport Action Ontario was featured in an article by York Region Media Group on this topic.  The article summarizes our position and reasons why we support such tolls.  The article can be viewed below. 

Dec 20, 2016  |  Vote 0    0

Transportation group advocates for toll roads in York Region

For whom the road tolls

Mike Barrett/Metroland

Markham resident and past president of Transport Action Ontario, Peter Miasek, applauds Toronto’s decision to pursue road tolls and is working to bring them to highways in York Region. Dec. 19, 2016

Markham Economist & Sun

By Lisa Queen

If you’re a commuter who thinks toll roads coming to Toronto are highway robbery, brace yourself.

While the issue doesn’t have the same traction as it does in Toronto where council agreed in December to pursue the idea, it is slowly percolating, mainly out of the public eye, in York Region.

“We’ve been working behind the scenes (to make it happen here),” said Markham resident Peter Miasek, past-president of Transport Action Ontario, an organization advocating for rail-based public transportation.

The organization supports tolls on highways 400 and 404, with revenues being earmarked for transit and transportation projects in the region.

The organization has talked about toll roads with regional transportation staff and some councillors, including Newmarket Coun. John Taylor and Richmond Hill Coun. Vito Spatafora, who chairs the region’s transportation committee, Miasek said.

Meanwhile, he pointed out the region’s new transportation master plan supports pursuing the possibility of toll roads.

“Support and participate in a constructive dialogue on road pricing among governments, the business sector and general public across the GTHA (Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area) and support education, research and demonstration that are essential to effective, efficient and equitable road pricing in the long term,” the plan said.

Miasek, who made a presentation to Toronto’s executive committee on Dec. 1 in favour of the city’s plan to impose tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway, said it doesn’t make sense to bring toll roads to York Region until the transit system is at a point where it can offer a reliable alternative to driving.

But with significantly expanded GO train service now being implemented, it makes sense to start discussing the issue, he said.

Toll roads have many benefits, Miasek said.

“It does a number of things. It boosts revenue, it will cut travel time for those people who want to pay, it does wean us off the car,” he said, adding a program to help low-income commuters could be considered.

“I do think our automobiles, and I’m an auto driver like everyone else up here, is past its best before date with all the accidents and the health issues, climate change, congestion and all of that. So, it’s a step in the right direction.”

While Toronto is eyeing a $2 flat toll, Miasek said a fee by distance is fairer and would also help prevent drivers from bailing from the highway onto local roads just before tolls begin.

Ideally, the province would be leading the discussion but likely won’t embrace the political hot potato in advance of the 2018 election, Miasek said.

He acknowledged the issue is controversial.

“I may not want to run for most beloved citizen,” he laughed, adding he’s surprised at the support he’s heard among his friends for toll roads as long as rates are reasonable and the revenues are used to improve transit and transportation infrastructure.

Spatafora, who agreed the region is looking at the concept of road pricing, said he has mixed feelings about toll roads.

Implementing tolls on highways 404 and 400 would be difficult because they are provincial highways but the region could consider them for future regional roads, specifically much-needed and expensive east-west streets needed to ease the region’s serious traffic congestion problems, Spatafora said.

Tolls are worth considering if the revenues are used for the construction of transit and transportation infrastructure, not to fund ongoing operating expenses, Spatafora said.

It’s also crucial they not be run like Highway 407, he said.

“I take a look at what’s happened with Highway 407 and it’s become a money-maker for foreign investors. It kind of defeats the purpose because a lot of people who’d want to use this east-west connection avoid it because of the heavy cost,” he said.

“If it’s a reasonable cost, in terms of the operating expense, then it’s one thing. But when it becomes a gouge, like it has been with the 407, that’s where I’m hesitant and have concerns.”

Tolls shouldn’t be implemented until the region’s transit system is more developed, Spatafora said.

Tolls can cause drivers to migrate to surrounding non-toll roads, meaning traffic patterns are just shifted rather than alleviated, Elliott Silverstein, manager of government relations in the Canadian Automobile Association’s Thornhill office, said.

The CAA and Conference Board of Canada produced a report in 2010 which showed motorists in Ontario pay for 70 to 80 per cent of road infrastructure costs through fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees.

That jumps to “well over 100 per cent” in the GTHA, showing motorists already shoulder more than their fair share of transportation costs, Silverstein said.

On Jan. 1, drivers will begin paying 4.3 cents more in gas taxes as part of the carbon tax, putting more of a burden on motorists, he said.

Governments need to look at other options other than tolls to manage traffic congestion, Silverstein said.

Toronto Mayor Opts for Road Tolls to fund Transit Expansion

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit

Original Post November 25, 2016.   See update as of December 2, 2016 at end of posting

The City of Toronto is facing a major budget shortfall for 2017 – both for operating costs and capital costs.  The problem is not that spending is too high, but that revenues are too low.  Following extensive research, City staff has identified a number of revenue options, ranging from higher residential property taxes, increased land transfer taxes, hotel tax, reinstitute vehicle registration tax and implement expressway tolling.   These will be subject to additional analysis and public consultation.

However, in a bold and remarkable speech at the Toronto Region Board of Trade on November 24 (with TAO in the audience), Toronto Mayor Tory publically stated his preference for tolls on the Gardiner and Don Valley Expressways, raising about $200M/yr to be dedicated for transit capital expansion.  The statement caused a Canada-wide media sensation, with plenty of comments pro/con.

TAO has long supported new revenue tools for transit, especially ones like road pricing that raise revenue and incent drivers to switch to more sustainable transportation modes. We will continue to advocate for and support efforts to introduce such tools in Toronto and other Ontario municipalities.

Update as per December 2, 2016

On December 1, Toronto Executive Committee considered various staff reports outlining numerous new revenue sources to be considered for the City’s 2017 operating and capital budgets.  These included road pricing, as well as the other tools cited in the original post, above.   Transport Action Ontario made a formal deputation with the following key points:  urging City to talk to other GTHA municipalities, pushing the province for leadership, supporting road tolls, recommending other big-ticket revenue sources and encouraging transparency and accountability of the Fund.

Our deputation can be viewed here:  tao-deputationtotoronto2016-12-01

Executive Committee did support road tolls as well as a limited suite of other tools.  The recommendations now go to Budget Committee and City Council.  Stay tuned!

Search for new VIA Rail chairperson holds promise of real and long-overdue change

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Press Releases and Open Letters

All Aboard St Marys and Transport Action Ontario issued a joint press release applauding the federal government’s search for a new chairperson for VIA Rail.

The release can be viewed here:  tao-aasm-release-via-chairperson2016-11-28

Op-Ed for New Revenue Tools for Sustainable Transportation

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit