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As was anticipated in the 2016 federal budget, one of its major features unveiled on Tuesday was a boost to transit spending, and Toronto and the surrounding region look set to be among the main beneficiaries.
The new Public Transit Infrastructure Fund will provide up to $3.4 billion for three years from 2016/17, and the funding will be proportional to existing transit ridership so Ontario will receive almost $1.5 billion. TTC fleet replacement, including the purchase of new subway cars, low-floor buses, and streetcars was one of the specific projects named in the budget. In their election manifesto, the federal Liberals pledged to "boost investment in public transit by nearly $6 billion over the next four years, and almost $20 billion over ten years."
As importantly, the budget document said that to "get projects moving quickly", the Government will fund up to half of their cost, instead of the one-third share that they normally provide, with the province and municipality picking up the rest.
VIA Rail had been hoping to get the go-ahead for a dedicated rail link between Toronto and Montréal and Ottawa, to increase both the speed and frequency of trains, as well as new rolling stock, for a total spend of between three and four billion dollars, but what they have been offered for the moment is $7.7m for better rail security and studying in more detail how the rolling stock would be replaced, and $3.3m over three years for an "in-depth assessment" of the dedicated rail link proposal (plus $37m to improve stations and maintenance centres). VIA's CEO, Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, had said before the budget that if funded the whole scheme could have been built by 2019.
There are many debates about transit and infrastructure in our forums including a long-running discussion about VIA Rail. Please share your views there or in the comments section below.
