Ontario Liberals say that if they form a government after the June 2 election, they would make all public transportation fares $1 until 2024.
The party says the fare reduction would apply to “every transit system in Ontario,” including all municipal services, as well as GO Transit and Ontario Northland.
Liberals are calling their plan “buck-a-ride,” a reference to a popular part of Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford’s 2018 platform to offer “buck-a-beer.”
In a press release, the Liberals say the proposal would cost about $710 million in 2022/2023 and about $1.1 billion in 2023/2024, with the government replacing all lost revenue from transit services.
“Ontario is caught in an affordability crisis and families are waiting for their government to act,” Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said in the statement.
“Our plan will provide families with immediate relief within the first 100 days of being elected by dramatically reducing the price of public transportation.”
The party also proposes capping the cost of a monthly transit pass at $40 and making all public transportation free for veterans.
Liberals say the move to slash transit fees could take as many as 400,000 vehicles off the road each day, though the statement doesn’t explain how that estimate was made. Asked about the figure at a morning news conference, Del Duca said the party’s campaign platform would include the model used to arrive at that figure.
He didn’t say exactly when the full platform would launch, just that it would come at a total cost and that voters could expect to see it soon.
Del Duca touted the transit announcement Monday and criticized some of Ford’s investments in highways, particularly the Highway 413 project around the Greater Toronto Area. Conservatives say it will save commuters up to 30 minutes, but Del Duca and other critics say that won’t happen and the project will only contribute to sprawl.
Progressive Conservatives are promising a host of other highway projects, including widening Highway 401 east of Toronto and making improvements to Queen Elizabeth Way in the Niagara region. Del Duca said he will invest in highways “where it makes sense.”
“I know that in many parts of Ontario, expanding and rehabilitating our highway system is critically important to the movement of goods and to our commuters and, frankly, to the safety of the traveling public,” he said.
Del Duca was asked if he would make good on the promise by reinstating license plate renewal fees – the Progressive Conservative government recently scrapped them and the move is expected to cost $1bn in foregone revenue.
“Families in Ontario are struggling, so we’re not looking to make life harder for them,” he said.
The Liberals earlier promised a separate investment of $375 million for annual transit operations funding to support more routes, extended hours of service, accessibility and connections between cities.
In response to the liberal announcement, the NDP issued a statement saying traffic in the province “got worse and worse” under Del Duca as transport minister in former Prime Minister Kathleen Wynne’s government.
The statement also made reference to the controversial Kirby GO station, which is scheduled to be built at some point in what was Del Duca’s ride home during his time as transport minister.
A 2018 Auditor General report found that the regional transit agency Metrolinx decided to approve plans for the Kirby station despite its own internal recommendation that the station not be built. At the time, Bonnie Lysyk attributed the change to political pressure from Del Duca and Toronto city officials.
Reference-www.cbc.ca