I see apple. I see orange. No can compare apple and orange. Ministate and huge metropolis, in our case.
Political forces are not relevant here. In almost all western cities reasonable competition in mass transit does not exist. The transit industry tends to be at a loss - big or small... and as a result there is no way in hell that any private company would invest in this. The investment up front alone would cost way too much.
Dude, can you even in your wildest dreams imagine a private company digging a subway line? They'll go bankrupt so fast. That is what was happening so often with private mass transit in north america... it went bankrupt so many times.
The only way to have a private company doing things is if there is continual support and investment from the government. I am against this.
Lets not forget where this all begins. It's all from the backbone on which neoliberal economic policy is based on... that public ownership is bad. Idiots like friedman have been saying that "GREED IS GOOD"... well, these policies have brought the US into a state of collapse... and are taking Canada down that same doomed path. Competition simply does not work in mass transit. In Chicago we had streetcars and elevated Metro lines going on the exact same route!! Like no wonder the idiots went into bankruptcy. The best transit systems are those where the government pumps in shitloads of money. Lets see now... applied to Toronto that would be... oh yeah, kinda like that song... "dream on". While Moscow's Metro system is extending itself each year by some KMs, we are falling behind the world and are a second tier city in terms of transportation - which nonetheless is better than most of the stuff that we see down in the US...
edit: This idea of GREED IS GOOD simply does not work for mass transit, because mass transit is a public good... now hey, I see GREED IS GOOD being applied to universities and colleges... sure enough the are cutting their classes/programs slowly/steadily. Reduction in quality...