Mayoral candidate Chow promises to fund Scarborough RT busway if province won’t

Mayoral candidate Olivia Chow says she would create a dedicated busway along the Scarborough RT corridor despite the fact the city says it does not have the funds for a dedicated, off-street bus rapid transit line.

The Scarborough RT, a key transit corridor for 35,000 daily commuters, is set to shut down in the fall of 2023. Commuters will be forced onto replacement buses for at least seven years during construction of a new three-stop Scarborough subway extension. The fastest and most reliable replacement option was to convert the existing SRT route into a dedicated, off-street busway. However, the city now says it doesn’t have the $2.9 million needed to go ahead with the design work.

“It’s a slap in the face,” said Zain Khurram with the Toronto Youth Cabinet. “They could reallocate funds from somewhere else, they chose not to today.”

“When the city wants to find money, they find money. But somehow when it comes to Scarborough transit riders, well, we can’t find it. And that’s what frustrating and very disappointing,” said Scarborough-North Coun. Jamaal Myers.

The total cost of the dedicated bus rapid transit route on the existing SRT corridor is estimated at $60 million.

The city says has asked the province to help fund the dedicated busway. A spokesperson for the transportation minister says the government is planning to invest more than $70 billion in transit projects which will include the Scarborough Subway Extension, but adds the province has not received a formal request from the City.

Chow says she plans to go ahead with the project without or without funding from the province, adding she plans to use the money saved by rebuilding to eastern portion of the Gardiner Expressway to pay for the project.

“Poor planning and political inaction has left people to deal with a decade-long gap between the shutdown of the RT and the opening of the Scarborough subway,” said Chow. “That’s why I’ll make sure the dedicated busway gets built, with reliable service.”

Former councillor Ana Bailao, who is also running for mayor, has also said she would immediately fund the preliminary work needed to transform the SRT into a dedicated bus route, while continuing efforts to secure funding from the province.

The TTC says it will use up to 70 buses an hour to replace the decommissioned SR,  which will utilize priority bus lanes painted on existing roadways. However, a dedicated busway would save commuters 10 minutes each way, or about two hours a week.

“They have to come up with the money because Scarborough transit users already have some of the longest commutes in the city,” said Shelagh Pizey-Allen, a spokesperson with the advocacy group TTC riders. “What we’re talking about is hours and hours of peoples lives being stolen because the city didn’t move quickly to secure investment and go ahead with this busway option.”

As of May 8, the TTC will permanently close the existing south commuter lot at Kennedy Station for the construction of an additional bus terminal as part of the bus replacement service, eliminating some 530 parking spaces.