From the Star:
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No break for TTC riders?
Fare hike may offset Conservative discount, Mihevc warns
Harper promises pass holders 16% saving through tax credit
Jan. 20, 2006. 05:47 AM
PAUL MOLONEY
CITY HALL BUREAU
Toronto transit riders may see no benefit from Stephen Harper's promise to provide a tax credit designed to save Metropass holders $189.60 a year, says the vice-chair of the Toronto Transit Commission.
That's because the TTC may raise the Metropass by the same amount, Councillor Joe Mihevc said yesterday.
The TTC will be looking more closely at the situation if Harper's Conservatives win office on Monday.
"If we at the TTC — who are in a big budget squeeze — suddenly find out a few days from now that passengers are going to be getting a discount on their income tax, there will actually be upward pressure on increasing fares," he said.
The Metropass currently costs $98.75 a month or $1,185 a year. Harper is offering a 16 per cent discount that transit riders could claim as a credit on their income tax return.
The discount reduces the monthly pass by $15.80, which provides room for the TTC to boost the cost back up so that passholders neither gain nor lose, while providing more revenue for the transit system, Mihevc warned.
"This isn't a net benefit to riders because transit authorities will be tempted to increase fares for monthly passholders, so in the end passengers won't save."
Such a scenario would be even more likely if Harper doesn't follow through on his promise to honour transit funding agreements reached with the Paul Martin Liberals, he said.
Mihevc, a New Democrat, said he's not convinced Harper is serious about supporting transit.
"It's been a very vague commitment," he said. "I think that's the fairest thing to say and I've followed this thing very closely. Will they honour existing funding arrangements?"
The TTC could expect to see more riders as a result of the tax credit, said Michael Roschlau, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Urban Transit Association.
The transit association is worried transit systems may not be able to handle increased ridership.
"Most of the transit systems are pretty full during rush hour. To the extent it increases ridership in rush hour, we want to make sure that the investment is there to actually put more service in place to carry those people," Roschlau said.
While Harper has emphasized his tax credit would boost ridership, the TTC is struggling to handle rush-hour crowds now, Mihevc said.
"We could be in the unenviable position of having positive ridership growth and people standing out in the cold because we don't have enough buses, and we can't afford the buses we would need to carry the people," he said.
The TTC currently sells about 2 million of the monthly passes a year, but hasn't yet studied how many extra passes would be sold because of the Harper discount, said transit spokesperson Lynn Hilborn.
The TTC is projecting the system will carry 437 million rides this year, up from 424 million rides in 2005.
The transit association would like to see funding increased in future years, in addition to commitments already made.