GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[crs1026]

Call it Union Cinnabon Station and watch everyone cheer.

- Paul

 

[tmlittle]

We don't sponsor police stations or fire houses. We sponsor hospitals and transit vehicles, putting private entity names on infrastructure while providing a tiny amount of the costs, and print ads on the back of library receipts and linking out from the library catalogue to remind patrons they are sponging off the taxpayers when they could be making Heather Reisman richer.

What we deem must be sponsored/fundraised and what is paid from taxes without question says a lot about our society.

Perfectly captured. This isn't as directly impactful as service suspensions (which governments across Ontario have loved using COVID as an excuse for), but it makes people angry because it rubs it in their face how venal and corrupt the provincial government is, and how the corruption runs so deep, it's simply done out in public and made explicit.

 

[TopOfRail]

Railways are subject to property tax

I had always wondered about this! Do you know if there are any public records available for how much and how these property taxes are administered? And how far does it extend to "all the railways" - for example, does MX pay property tax to municipalities?

 

[ARG1]

I strongly disagree with naming stations like this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1577323977739063298

 

[lenaitch]

I had always wondered about this! Do you know if there are any public records available for how much and how these property taxes are administered? And how far does it extend to "all the railways" - for example, does MX pay property tax to municipalities?

See Table 1 on Page 2 and the notes thereunder.

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-104604.pdf

As a general rule, levels of government don't tax other levels of government, but make 'payments in lieu'. It's a little weird. When I was working as a provincial government employee, we were expected to seek exemption from GST, and business owners would say 'so, they want you to pay your own government's tax, but not the federal one'. I have to admit that, rom the outside looking in, it seems odd.

 

[Garuda]

Wait...so that isn't an entrance to Durham College??

That’s what makes this event dumber. The campus isn’t even nearby.

Metrolinx crapped their pants with this one. And why would a public institution go for naming rights? If I was a student I’d be pissed.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

I had always wondered about this! Do you know if there are any public records available for how much and how these property taxes are administered? And how far does it extend to "all the railways" - for example, does MX pay property tax to municipalities?

I don’t know of any documents but one recent public example was the Orangeville Brampton Railway. Orangeville paid about $400,000 per year in taxes to Caledon, Brampton, and Mississauga for a 55 kilometre railway. I believe the railways are subject to the going property tax rates of the subject municipalities.

 

[Dan416]

I strongly disagree with naming stations like this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1577323977739063298

And this is why I have zero faith in Metrolinx for naming a transit station (as if the station names on Eglinton weren't a big enough debacle, hello Eglinton station on the Eglinton line, or renaming Eglinton West needlessly, or a station name like "Fairbank" which to this day I can't remember where it is).

 

[duffo]

And this is why I have zero faith in Metrolinx for naming a transit station (as if the station names on Eglinton weren't a big enough debacle, hello Eglinton station on the Eglinton line, or renaming Eglinton West needlessly, or a station name like "Fairbank" which to this day I can't remember where it is).

What's hilarious to me about this was that the entire point of station name sponsorship was to raise revenue for the province. Durham College is provincially-funded, so they basically gave away the naming rights for net-zero revenue (when you zoom out beyond the Metrolinx budget).

 

[jamincan]

^ Also the Heritage Road station west of Mount Pleasant.

- Paul

Is Metrolinx planning a station there? I thought it was only supposed to be a layover.

 

[Allandale25]

^ the City of Brampton wants one there. It showed up on a Metrolinx Station planning map/report to the Board years ago.

 

[crs1026]

^ the City of Brampton wants one there. It showed up on a Metrolinx Station planning map/report to the Board years ago.

The desire for a station is alive and well - see here. I'm told it is receiving some quiet study.

- Paul

PS - and much discussion in detail here.

 

[innsertnamehere]

much like Markham's requested station at Major Mackenzie, just 1km from Mount Joy.. Not all municipal request can or should be granted for stations.

 

[Allandale25]

I strongly disagree with naming stations like this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1577323977739063298

This tweet is still up but the tweet from the main @Metrolinx account has been deleted....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1577323865482616832

 

[APTA-2048]

This tweet is still up but the tweet from the main @Metrolinx account has been deleted....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1577323865482616832

The comments in that Tweet were 100% negative. People really hate when you rename things. An unnecessarily confusing name choice just adds to that.

I'd like to think the reaction will make Metrolinx reconsider, but apparently the people in charge don't care.