Thread by @iamdavidmiller

I've just seen reports about the Provincial intent to massively interfere in the planning and building of transit in Toronto. This is disastrous for Toronto residents and must be fought with every means possible.

First of all, the idea that the Province of Ontario has any current expertise in Transit construction is fiction. This paragraph of the Provincial letter is brazenly false: pbs.twimg.com/media/D2nrjAMU…

Since announcing full funding for Transit City on June 15, 2007, here are the successful transit projects that the Province of Ontario has built in Toronto on time and on budget: ( 0 )

What have they done? First of all, the Union Pearson Express, for nearly $700 million dollars plus hidden costs. When first proposed, this could have been done for $43 million by GO transit - the cost of building the spur into Pearson /2

Ontario conceived of the project as a luxury service, complete with magazines and luxury prices.That failed, and fares were dramatically cut. But there was a far bigger cost - the speed of luxury service required rebuilding crossings etc. that cost hundreds of millions of $$ /3

And because the Province does not understand local transit, they still have not built arguably the most important part of the UP Express plan - the link between the Dundas W TTC and Bloor GO stations, which at low cost provides easy connections to midtown for GO/UP riders alike

What else? The Province stopped the TTC from building the Eglinton LRT, (scheduled to open in 2016/8) despite engineering being almost complete, to PPP the project. At significant cost, they paid for the engineering to be redone,. The project has had huge cost overruns/ delays.

I oversaw the negotiations with Metorlinx / Province. They fought the TTC every step of the way, and always (literally) backed down and agreed that the TTC was correct - over stop distances, who should own tunnels, etc etc. Why? The TTC are experts. The Province are not

Secondly, the City must control the planning of its transit routes. Transit is an economic, transportation and environmental life blood for the city, and a significant social equity issue. It is a core responsibility of a major City, and must be maintained

Furthermore, from a democratic perspective, the people of Toronto should control, through their elected representatives, their transit system. Allowing a Provincial takeover marginalizes their voice on a distinctly urban issue, and gives a voice to people it does not affect.

Finally, for the moment, is the transit record of the proponent of this plan. Grim indeed. Advocated the cancellation of the Sheppard LRT (would have been operating now). Cost? $100 million. Replaced by? Buses

Next, he wanted the one stop subway extension. Cost? $6 Billion dollars and counting, if ever built. In a cash constrained government, the billions to build transit simply do not exist. We will only see plans. And soon, as the RT ages, it will be replaced by buses.

The one stop subway serves fewer people with worse service than the alternative LRT proposal. With $6 Billion a rapid transit network (including lines like the Scarborough Malvern LRT) could be built to serve all of Scarborough, with money left over. instead? Buses

The TTC is owned by the people of Toronto. It needs to remain that way in order to meet their needs. The Province doesn't know how to build or run local rapid transit, and must not be allowed to take over any part of the system. Never. And certainly not under this Premier.