Years of municipal funding cuts combined with a reduction in ridership revenues, even as COVID-related expenses climbed, have left Toronto’s primary public transit operator with a C$125-million budget gap.
The shortfall for 2024 shows up in the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)’s latest budget, reports PressProgress, after years of city councillors begrudging transit spending, followed by months of plummeting ridership and rising costs.
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In 2022, the TTC eked out savings by cutting its services “5% below budgeted,” as well as reducing personnel costs, the latest budget noted. But across North America, many experts are urging against moves to save money by cutting services and staff.
So far, Toronto has said it plans make up the TTC shortfall by diverting funds from “paused” capital projects.
“Absent any further funding commitments from the Government of Canada and subject to final 2022 year-end audited results, the remaining 2022 shortfall will be offset with one-time funds that would otherwise be allocated to capital projects,” a spokesperson told PressProgress.
Federal assistance is unlikely to be forthcoming. Latest news finds Ottawa “brushing aside” pleas to help Toronto plug its overall budgetary shortfall, which currently stands at $1.5 billion. Speaking with reporters during a child care announcement in Mississauga, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited significant federal support provided to provinces during the pandemic. He said provinces “need to step up now to support the cities that are their area of jurisdiction,” reports the Globe and Mail.
Yet Ontario Premier Doug Ford has so far rejected the idea that the province should pony up to rescue cash-strapped Toronto. On the transit file, the Globe points to the $226 million the province recently directed to the city’s SmartTrack project, as well as a $28.5-million transit plan that will see the subway system expand by 50%.
But that still leaves the TTC in need of stable, reliable funding that doesn’t come from the farebox. The transit agency’s current reliance on user fees for its survival stands at more than 66%, “a level not seen in any city in North America,” PressProgress writes, citing a report by CodeRedTO.
