Wavering public support puts cracks in political subway deal: James
ALEX CONSIGLIO / TORONTO STAR Order this photo
The Scarborough RT has never been upgraded - unlike the SkyTrain system in Vancouver that uses similar technology.
By: Royson James Toronto Politics, Published on Wed Aug 05 2015
Premier Kathleen Wynne and Mayor John Tory
(open John Tory's policard) no doubt share a common unease about their stubborn, unsubstantiated faith in the proposed Scarborough subway. But the doctrine of political expediency helps them keep the faith.
Even as they mouth support for the project that is essentially a $2-billion over-build of transit infrastructure, both political leaders know the justification is non-existent.
Oh, the payback in political support is demonstrable.
Link the current east-west subway terminus at Kennedy Station to the Scarborough Town Centre, and enough Scarborough residents are ecstatic enough to vote for you. It worked for Mitzie Hunter of the provincial Liberals. As a member of a study team, she advocated an LRT for the corridor. Then, reading the political tea leaves as a Liberal candidate, Hunter became a subway convert. And won the riding.
Politicians being politicians, they can’t help themselves when their strategists point out the direct link between public policy and vote buying. But on this scheme, the link weakens with every revelation about its shaky foundations.
Further evidence that, perhaps, Torontonians want a second look comes with a Forum Research poll that shows nearly half the city wants city council to re-examine the project. Nearly one in five respondents don’t know what to think and one-third want the subway.
Some think the downtown relief line demands higher priority. Others want an LRT because it covers more neighbourhoods and costs less. Still others feel the subway runs too closely to the mayor’s SmartTrack line — a multi-billion-dollar project shoe-horned into existing plans and treated as if it’s a fait accompli.
By now, the subway proponents should be comfortably ahead in the public opinion game. The subway extension has $660 million promised in federal money. Premier Wynne sticks by her $1.48-billion contribution. The city has approved a dedicated property tax hike for some 40 years. New mayor John Tory doesn’t want to upset pro-subway councillors and potentially lose their votes on his SmartTrack scheme, so he hides behind the claim that city council has already voted — the train has left the station, he says.
So, why is such a significant cohort of residents uneasy about the project? Why is support falling, not building?
Because approval and survival of the Scarborough subway is based on deception, faulty data, poor analysis, political opportunism and hubris.
The more residents learn about the Scarborough subway, the more they are convinced that the ridership is not there; the line runs where the fewest riders are and where the development potential is restrained; the projected ridership numbers that gave cover to council’s support in 2013 have not been tested, were done hurriedly and may be fictional; more cost-effective and appropriate alternatives exist and have been offered for decades; and other transit proposals now gaining steam (see SmartTrack) will only aggravate the waste.
Worse, citizens realize their city council is not working in the city’s interest. Councillors have voted, and will continue to vote, with the mayor — so long as they feel they can get plum appointments and support for pet projects. These alliances are deaf to reason. Councillors literally put their fingers in their ears and vote — whipped into action, they are, by the mayor’s henchmen.
This condition is not unique to the current John Tory administration.
For decades the TTC urged the politicians to fix and upgrade the Scarborough RT into a modern system. The technology is the same one running well in Vancouver. It’s just that ours has never been upgraded. In 2006, TTC estimated the fix at $360 million.
Instead of acting, the transit commission and council let the RT go to ruin. Instead, Mayor David Miller proposed Transit City — a light rail system. Then Rob Ford
(open Rob Ford's policard) bellowed “subways, subways, subways.” Then, cynical politicians mined the idea that anything other than a subway in Scarborough is akin to dismissing borough residents as second-class citizens. And the pro-subway political juggernaut was born.
Truth has punched some cracks into that bedrock doctrine. But it will take something tectonic to crumble the foundations of this ruinous adventure.
In the fall, city council is to decide on the actual route of the subway. That provides an opportunity to reconsider and, maybe, change technology. It won’t happen. The entire weight of the mayor’s office is arrayed to ensure its survival. It’s not that Tory cares about the project; he doesn’t. He’s got a bigger fish to fry.
Tory needs votes to keep on track his transit pet project — SmartTrack. That idea to run trains from Markham, through downtown and out near the airport at a cost of $8-, $9-, $10-billion is entirely untested. But it is the central plank in Tory’s election campaign. It must proceed or the mayor loses credibility.
As such, Tory supports the Scarborough Subway to secure six or so crucial votes of city councillors politically invested to deliver the subway. The alliance is formidable — never mind the wasted billions of taxpayers’ dollars.
http://www.thestar.com/news/city_ha...ts-cracks-in-political-subway-deal-james.html
Royson James usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email:rjames@thestar.ca
