You know what I hate? A lot of things, but one thing I really hate is when someone thinks I’m stupid and they can pull a fast one on me. Like I will blindly accept whatever they say and just agree. Take this bull shit ad from the TTC.
In case you can’t read it,
Better transit runs on better funding.
- Fares don’t cover the cost of every trip, so as ridership grows the TTC’s costs grow.
- The TTC gets less financial help than any other major North American transit system – only $0.84 per customer from Toronto property taxpayers.
- Montreal gets $1.28 per customer from city and provincial governments
- Chicago gets $2.64 per customer from local state and federal governments
- More help from provincial and federal governments will allow the TTC to meet Toronto’s growing transit needs.
First off as the ridership grows the costs may grow but not at the same rate. A streetcar travelling along Queen street costs the same to operate whether there is one person on it or a hundred. You still have to pay the driver, pay for gas, pay for rails. The only difference is that an increase in stopping and starting might be less fuel efficient. But on a busy route like Queen, chances are the streetcar will stop at every stop anyway.
Secondly, the ad is comparing one level of funding (Toronto) against two (Ottawa) and three (Chicago) levels of funding which is misleading. While the Harris government left Ontario reeling, and it’s still recovering, the TTC has been wholly supported by the people of Toronto. Both in terms of fares and in terms of municipal taxes, that is the real issue here.
Lastly who gives a flying-fuck about Chicago. We’re not American, and it’s not like their governments are shining beacons of good decisions, let’s focus on Canada.
Now, the TTC is considered one of the most costly transit systems in Canada. For the 2011 operating year, the TTC had a projected operating budget of $1,447 million dollars. Revenue from fares covered approximately 70% of the budget, whereas the remaining 30% originated from the city. (from Wikipedia) If they wanted to get Torontonians riled up then what they need to do is quit pussy-footing around the issue and drive the point home:
Better transit runs on better funding.
- Fares don’t cover the cost of every trip, Toronto property taxes account for 30% of the funding. 40% of TTC riders are not Toronto taxpayers.
- Montreal transit gets 10% of it’s operating budget from the provincial government.
- Ottawa receives 9% of it’s funding from the Ontario government.
- Brampton, Durham, Oakville, St. Catherines, Thunder Bay, Wasaga Beach, Waterloo all receive millions of dollars for their transit, why not Toronto?
- Contact Bob Chiarelli, the Minister of Transportation bchiarelli.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
With an ad like that you would get people’s attention, and provide them with a source of action. Someone to contact to complain. At the very least Toronto should have a fare system which includes zones so all riders pay their fair share regardless of whether or not it is through fares or taxes.