A loonie idea or a way to make public transit more affordable?
Steven Del Duca is promising $1 fares on all transit lines in Ontario if his Liberals defeat Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives on June 2.
That would mean significant saving for commuters.
On the TTC, fares are $3.25, while on GO Transit, it can cost as much as $21.15 one-way from Niagara Falls to Union Station.
“A buck-a-ride province-wide,” Del Duca said Monday against a backdrop of rail lines at the Metro Toronto Convention Center.
“Unlike Doug Ford’s broken promise of ‘buck-a-beer,’ we will deliver ‘buck-a-ride’ for all transit riders,” he said, referring to Ford’s 2018 campaign pledge to lower beer prices.
The Liberal leader, who was transportation minister in premier Kathleen Wynne’s government, said fares would be temporarily cut until January 2024 to help offset soaring inflation and encourage ridership that is down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This plan is estimated to cost about $710 million in 2022-23, and about $1.1 billion in 2023-24.
Del Duca hinted to reporters that discounted fares could continue beyond 2024.
To help transit systems, who need fare box revenue to run their systems, a Liberal government would add $375 million in annual transit operating funding.
Del Duca, whose announcement comes as Ford is with Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Windsor to announce investments in Chrysler factories there and in Brampton, said his reprieve would help at a time when inflation is 6.7 per cent.
“Ontario is gripped by an affordability crisis and families expect their government to act. Our plan will provide families with immediate relief within the first 100 days of being elected, by slashing the price of transit to a buck-a-ride,” he said.
“Under our plan, someone hopping on the GO train from Oakville to head in for a Blue Jays game will save nearly $20 on their round trip,” the Grit chief said.
“And a commuter taking the GO from Whitby to Toronto would save more than $300 dollars a month,” he said, noting his party opposes Highway 413, the proposed 60 km freeway from Milton to Vaughan that could cost $10 billion.
“With the Ford Conservatives, Ontario gets billions wasted on one highway that won’t be completed for a decade and will not make a difference on commute times,” he said.
“With our Ontario Liberal plan, people will get immediate relief for their commute and in their wallet.”
Commuters on all municipal transit, GO, and Ontario Northland services would be eligible for the $1 fares.
Monthly passes would be cut to $40 and the Liberals estimate the move could take 400,000 cars off the road each day, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Taking a shot at Ford’s “buck-a-beer” pitch from four years ago, the Liberals noted the cheapest suds now cost $1.65 a bottle.
Both the Conservatives and the New Democrats blasted Del Duca.
The Tories pointed out transit fares went up in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 when the Liberals were in power.
NDP MPP Taras Natyshak (Essex), meanwhile, noted “under the Liberals, and with Steven Del Duca as the responsible minister, transit got worse and worse.”
“When Steven Del Duca actually had the power to make transit affordable his priority was millions on a GO station in his riding for him and his developer buddies,” said Natyshak, referring to the Kirby GO station.
“On transit, you can’t trust the Liberals to fix what they helped break.”
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