As if Toronto subway riders don't face enough indignities already, a new one has been imposed; that of Mayor David Miller making political speeches over the transit PA system. Oddly, instead of the garbled, unintelligible noise that usually emits from the system's speakers, the mayor's speech is crystal clear, but that's another story.
The mayor has taken to the air to profess his dismay that the provincial government recently decided to slow promised capital funding for his beloved Transit City project (to build a series of light rail lines throughout the city). The provincial government confirms the money will still flow, just more slowly than originally hoped, as it attempts to cope with an mammoth deficit brought on by the recent recession. Toronto will get its money and the transit project will proceed, but delayed a bit.
To put the province's decision in perspective, Toronto has been complaining for years that it doesn't have the money to operate new transit services already under construction (.e.g. the subway to York University). The city doesn't have a budget plan for how it will operate the proposed light rail services. And the transit commission has no plan or budget for the maintenance yards the new light rail cars will require (they have been ordered but they are too big to fit in the existing streetcar barns). It would seem the mayor should be grateful that the province is willing to take the political heat for a necessary decision to delay the Transit City project until the city and transit commission have figured out how if can be put into operation. Not so.
instead, the mayor is desperate to create some sort of legacy that will cause people to forget how the city has regressed during his tenure. Is there anyone who would argue Toronto is in better shape than it was when he took office? More potholes, more water-main bursts, dirtier streets, weed-filled parks, reduced municipal services and higher taxes; these are his real legacy. So it's no surprise his vanity demands something glamourous like a fleet of shiny new streetcars.
But if Transit City were to proceed according to the original schedule, city residents would be faced with huge tax increases, and transit riders with huge fare increases, to pay for its operation. Then the mayor's legacy would be one of ever rising taxes and fees. Except, he seems to believe that money will fall from the heavens (well Queen's Park and Parliament Hill actually, which are a bit removed from the home of the gods) and solve all the city's problems.
Transit City will be delayed. A new mayor will be chosen in October and will be charged with coming-up with a realistic budget – not one based on the vague hope that Ontario will suddenly decide to give Toronto an extra few hundred million dollars to make David Miller look good – that, literally and figuratively, will get Transit City back on-track. But is David Miller grateful? No. He's irritating subway riders with an unprecedented hijacking of the PA system.
