TTC, GO Transit & TAVIS among winners in Ontario budget
Posted May 2, 2013 5:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Ontario budget unveiled Thursday by the minority Liberals includes money for the TTC, GO Transit, Massey Hall and Toronto Police’s anti-violence unit TAVIS.
As much as $416 million will go towards the TTC’s new streetcar fleet and $870 million for the extension of the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line to York University and into Vaughan.
The provincial government also said there will be more construction dollars to widen sections of Highway 401 in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).
The projects are part of a $5.6 billion investment in transit and provincial highways but it’s unclear how the government would pay for them. One revenue source will be from a new plan to allow drivers the option to pay a toll to use high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes even if they don’t have passengers. It’s expected to bring in $250 million to $300 million a year.
Select HOV lanes will be converted to High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes on Highways 401, 427 and 410 by the end of the year. But they’ll remain free for cars with two or more people.
TTC chair Karen Stintz said the budget was good news for Toronto transit since the finance minister confirmed Metrolinx’s Big Move is moving forward so the city can proceed with talks on ways to fund the $50-billion, 25-year transit expansion plan for the GTHA next week at its regular council meeting.
She added the HOT lanes were pitched as a way to fund the Big Move but she thinks it’s a good way to manage congestion not a way to fund the plan.
Mayor Rob Ford was pleased to hear that Ontario plans to permanently increase the city’s portion of the provincial gas tax to two cents a litre.
GO Transit will also get more funding over the next decade for new stations as well as corridor improvements so that an additional 50,000 riders can use the system each day.
The Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) will get $12.5 million a year to help reduce guns and gang violence after the city experienced the worst shooting in its history last summer. Two innocent bystanders were killed during a shooting spree between gangs that ended a outdoor barbecue for children on Danzig Street in Scarborough and two men died during a shooting at Eaton Centre.
Concert venue Massey Hall in downtown will get $8 million from Ontario which matches federal funding for its revitalization of the iconic landmark.
With files from The Canadian Press
