(This sort of thing doesn’t happen very often!)

This Sunday December 7th, the first Transit City light rail line opens! Say hello to Line 6 Finch West!

In case you missed the news: it’s really happening. Line 6 Finch West is a new 11-kilometre mostly-surface light rail line running from Finch West station on Line 1 to Humber Polytechnic’s North Campus. It runs in a reserved right-of-way in the centre of Finch West allowing vehicles to speed past traffic congestion, and should provide much more reliable and predictable transit service across Etobicoke. Reliability is one of the biggest predictors of transit success, so we’ll be keeping an eye on ridership and on-time performance for sure.

At launch, Line 6 LRT service will run from 6 AM – 10 PM Monday to Saturday and 7:30 AM – 10 PM on Sundays. After this winter’s “soft launch” period, our understanding is that the schedule will be extended to match the rest of the rapid transit network.

CodeRedTO volunteers will be along the route on Sunday December 7 starting at 7:30 AM with some free pins for the first riders – keep your eyes peeled!

This route runs from the edge of York Centre ward, across Humber RIver-Black Creek, and deep into Etobicoke North ward. The 36 Finch West bus which currently runs this route carries about 40,000 riders per day, and these three wards have a combined population of over 330,000 residents. If you’d like to learn more about the neighbourhoods Line 6 passes through, the University of Toronto’s School of Cities has published some fascinating Maps of Line 6 Finch West showing population density, green space, car space, and more!

Toronto is in the middle of a very large transit expansion, with new lines and stations expected to open fairly regularly over the next decade. You can learn more about the expansion projects on the City of Toronto’s Transit Expansion website. And if you like maps, they’ve got a doozy too!

We hope to see you on Line 6 one day very soon!

To: Members of the Executive Committee

CodeRedTO strongly supports proposed revenue tools and changes in 2023.EX7.1, based on both our research and the work of other civil society organizations such as Move TheGTHA, CivicAction, Toronto Environmental Alliance, The Atmospheric Fund, and others. CodeRedTO has consistently advocated since 2011 in support of improved transit funding from the provincial government, and new city-controlled revenue sources, to protect and build our transit network for the future.

Parking

Modifying the cost of parking through Toronto Parking Authority and in commercial parking lots will better reflect the cost to the city of private vehicle congestion, and the measured approach and timing to these changes will allow ward-appropriate and context-appropriate changes. Carefully designed, a context-appropriate sales tax could net hundreds of millions in revenue per year according to city staff in 2021, significantly supporting city services.

Sales Tax

Adding a municipal sales tax would enhance the ability of the City of Toronto to respond to economic activity taking place within its borders which is not subject to property taxes, diversifying its revenue sources and creating more budget resilience. Carefully designed to avoid a regressive structure, a context-appropriate sales tax could net hundreds of millions in revenue per year according to city staff in 2021, significantly supporting city services.

Transit Funding

A restructured funding agreement with the province of Ontario for transit operations is vital, as new rapid transit lines add new costs not fully covered by farebox revenue. When opened, Line 5 Eglinton Crosstown and Line 6 Finch West will require new subsidies to unlock the improved mobility and economic activity they will bring, just as the TYSSE extension to York University and Vaughan brought both benefits and tens of millions in new TTC operations costs.

Additionally, pausing negotiation of further funding agreements for the Provincial Priority Transit Projects such as Yonge North (Line 1 extension), Scarborough Subway (Line 2 extension), Eglinton West (Line 5 extension), and the Ontario Line, and for any future provincial transit expansion project, is appropriate and urgent.

The transit network is the low-emissions economic and academic circulation system of our city and region, and enabling our healthy and sustainable growth through transit is critical for the future of our city and residents.

We urge the committee to quickly act on the city’s financial challenges, to repair and protect and then build our vital transit network.

Cameron MacLeod
Executive Director, CodeRedTO
www.CodeRedTO.com

About CodeRedTO

CodeRedTO is a non-partisan, apolitical and volunteer transit advocacy organization. We have held public meetings with the TTC and Metrolinx in Etobicoke, Scarborough, York, North York and East York. We have presented at public meetings with both Councillor Carroll and Mayor Chow on transit funding and challenges. We have met with dozens of councillors over the last decade, along with deputy mayors, a Chief Planner, a Minister of Transportation, and a Premier. We have published detailed reports on public transit networks, finances, and governance. And we continue to be available for any member of council to assist with transit-related discussions at any time.

January

Ontario government will investigate controversial contracts Metrolinx gave to a consulting firm whose director was a VP at the transit agency
The provincial government will investigate Metrolinx’s decision to award contracts worth millions of dollars to a consulting firm while one of the firm’s directors was also serving as an executive at the transit agency.

(Two days later he resigned)

February

A report on the mayor’s transit plan mistakenly included inflated numbers. City staff knew but failed to fix them before council voted
Senior city of Toronto staff knowingly presented council with figures that exaggerated the benefits of Mayor John Tory’s signature transit plan ahead of an important vote in 2021. Deputy City Manager Tracey Cook signed off on not correcting the record.

(Cook was nearly-unanimously appointed Interim City Manager by City Council the following July)

March

TTC CEO got a 21% raise, and Metrolinx CEO got a 13% raise
TTC CEO Rick Leary made $438,495.91 in 2021, and Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster made $838,960.91.

(more than four times what the Mayor of Toronto and Premier of Ontario receive)

April

Scarborough RT may find new life as a multimillion-dollar dedicated bus lane
TTC staff recommend converting a portion of the Scarborough RT’s right-of-way into a dedicated busway when the RT shuts down at the end of 2023. Thirty-seven years after it opened, the notoriously unreliable RT has already outlived its intended design life by a decade, and is scheduled to be replaced by the province’s controversial three-stop, $5.5-billion Scarborough subway extension. But that project won’t be done until 2030 at the earliest, and in the meantime Scarborough transit riders will be stuck taking buses.

(Beginning in 2023 after the SRT is decommissioned, TTC will run express bus services for at least 7 years)

May

‘Hands off Osgoode Hall,’ Mayor John Tory warns Metrolinx over proposal to tear up historic site for new Ontario Line station
The mayor issued the stern message Tuesday in response to a plan from Metrolinx to tear up a corner of the historic building’s grounds for construction of an entrance for a new Ontario Line subway station.

(update: in November 2022, the plan to carve open the 170-year-old green space was put “on hold”)

June

Plans for another smaller, stand-alone Scarborough rail line draw fire
Staff are proposing a “distinct service” concept that would convert the Eglinton East LRT into a stand-alone line that would be operated with smaller trains than those on the Crosstown, and require riders to transfer at Kennedy for all other lines.

(Crosstown East was originally proposed in 2007 as a separate line called the Scarborough-Malvern LRT)

July

A new LRT line is bringing redevelopment — and gentrification fears — to Jane and Finch
A new soon-to-be-completed LRT line along Finch that is expected to push up land values, sparking fears among community members of displacement and gentrification. The Jane and Finch neighbourhood is set to be massively transformed by the new $2.5-billion Finch West light rail transit (LRT) line scheduled to be finished next year.

August

TTC Celebrates 100 Years of Service (video)

TTC chair and councillor Jaye Robinson said in 1921, adult fares at the time of operation were seven cents and tickets were four for 25 cents. Since the service launched 100 years ago, she said it’s estimated more than 32 billion passengers have been transported.

($0.07 in 1921 would be $1.11 in 2022 dollars)

September

Metrolinx admits Eglinton Crosstown will not open in 2022
The long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT has hit yet another snag, with Metrolinx President & CEO Phil Verster confirming on Friday that the project has once again fallen behind schedule, meaning riders will have to wait even longer for the delay-plagued light rail line.

(update: see December)

October

Metrolinx signs 10-year deal with Durham College for naming rights to Oshawa GO station
Oshawa GO station has been renamed ‘Durham College Oshawa GO’ after Metrolinx and Durham College announced they’ve signed a 10-year naming rights deal.

(Durham College is a 20-30 minute GO Bus ride from the station)

November

Ottawa LRT Public Inquiry Final Report released
“The inescapable conclusion is that [City Manager] Kanellakos deliberately misled Council.” (he resigned two days before the report was released, and therefore does not have to comment or answer questions on the inquiry’s findings)

“The Mayor’s failure to inform Council prevented Council from exercising effective oversight.”
(he did not run for re-election, and therefore does not have to comment or answer questions on the inquiry’s findings)

Private consortium Rideau Transit Group “knowingly provide[d] inaccurate information to the City about when the OLRT1 system would be ready for operation, which resulted in the City communicating unachievable dates to the public.”

(the line opened over a year late, and since has experienced significant shutdowns adding up to 54 days of lost service in the first year)

December

No ‘credible plan’ for completion of Eglinton LRT, says Metrolinx
The consortium building the Eglinton Crosstown LRT says it expects the long-delayed transit project to be completed by March 2023, but the provincial transit agency overseeing the project says that date is “overly ambitious.” In an internal Metrolinx performance report from September 2022 obtained by the Star, Metrolinx said Crosslinx Transit Solutions does not have a “credible plan” to complete the LRT. It ascribed the “continuous slippage of the project’s plan” to the “underperformance” of Crosslinx.

(Originally, construction on the Eglinton Crosstown was to complete in 2020)

On December 8, the TTC Board held its first meeting of the 2022-2026 term. Members of two significant subcommittees were to be appointed, so CodeRedTO provided some advice to TTC Commissioners on their work over the next four years. An edited version of our Executive Director’s remarks is below.

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