It looks like 2013 is shaping up to be a pretty substantial year for Metrolinx and for transit in the GTA. Several Liberal leadership candidates have brought up merging the TTC and Metrolinx, to varying degrees. The tide of public opinion is slowly but surely swinging towards a more centralized planning role in transit expansion.
Metrolinx is also slated to announce it's revenue generation plan, which will hopefully put some meat on the "next wave" projects that they announced late last year.
Personally, I don't think that Metrolinx is quite ready to take over the TTC just yet, but I think it should start heading in that direction. What I'd like to see is an uploading of several of the smaller transit agencies in the GTA, somewhere like Burlington or Oakville. Work out the kinks in the process there, and then upload all of the 905. Work out a few more kinks, and then tackle uploading the TTC.
What I'd like to see for Metrolinx funding is this:
1) A flat per citizen (or per taxpayer) rate from the various lower tier municipalities up to Metrolinx. Since the municipalities won't be responsible for delivering transit anymore, it will just be a built-in payment to Metrolinx. Hopefully for most areas it'll be cost-neutral for local taxpayers.
2) A 1% Regional Sales Tax.
3) A Vehicle Registration Tax.
4) A public option for auto insurance.
5) Funding from a National Transportation Strategy.
Metrolinx is also slated to announce it's revenue generation plan, which will hopefully put some meat on the "next wave" projects that they announced late last year.
Personally, I don't think that Metrolinx is quite ready to take over the TTC just yet, but I think it should start heading in that direction. What I'd like to see is an uploading of several of the smaller transit agencies in the GTA, somewhere like Burlington or Oakville. Work out the kinks in the process there, and then upload all of the 905. Work out a few more kinks, and then tackle uploading the TTC.
What I'd like to see for Metrolinx funding is this:
1) A flat per citizen (or per taxpayer) rate from the various lower tier municipalities up to Metrolinx. Since the municipalities won't be responsible for delivering transit anymore, it will just be a built-in payment to Metrolinx. Hopefully for most areas it'll be cost-neutral for local taxpayers.
2) A 1% Regional Sales Tax.
3) A Vehicle Registration Tax.
4) A public option for auto insurance.
5) Funding from a National Transportation Strategy.