OneCity, take two: let’s go regional

A challenge to every municipal government in the Greater Toronto Area: Within the next year, pass a resolution in favour of a dedicated revenue strategy for regional transit expansion.

Yes, that will mean endorsing nasty things like road tolls or an increased sales tax. Yes, you’ll inevitably run into opposition from people like Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who this past week said — and I’m not making this up — that he “can’t support taxing the taxpayer.” Some politicians, weak-willed and lacking vision, will always call for more studies and consultation, endlessly punting the obvious solution downfield.

But the GTA can’t afford to wait any longer. The Toronto Board of Trade reports that our economy will lose $15 billion every year starting in 2013 thanks to packed-to-the-gills transit vehicles and overcrowded highways.

And that cost will only go up.

Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of dealing with this mess, estimates that governments need to spend at least $50 billion on their Big Move transportation plan over the next few decades to improve the situation. That’s money that has to come from somewhere. And, despite what Ford will tell you, cash for subway construction is unlikely to fall from the sky.

TTC chair Karen Stintz’s OneCity transit strategy recognized that, but it failed last week because it tried to sidestep Metrolinx and the other government players. OneCity went straight to Plan B — a local plan with local money — skipping right past the ideal solution for GTA gridlock: a co-ordinated regional approach, one that acknowledges that congestion on Toronto’s roads and rails starts way beyond the city’s borders.

But there’s good reason to be skeptical about Metrolinx and the Big Move. The province has yet to prove they really mean business when it comes to transit construction and the fragile minority government in Queen’s Park has a history of backing away from controversy.

Beyond that, there’s no real indication that other municipalities will respond well when the conversation inevitably turns to local revenue tools. It’s easy for politicians to back transit plans when they’re just fanciful maps with colourful lines connecting every which way. It’s a lot harder to stand up and talk about how to pay.

Which brings me back to my challenge to town and city councils. If the Metrolinx revenue strategy for regional transportation is really going to work, it needs broad and committed support from every local government in the GTA. Councils in Peel, Halton, Durham, York and, yes, even Rob Ford’s Toronto have got to send a forceful message that they’re finally ready to get serious about the region’s congestion problems.

If the GTA doesn’t start to speak with one voice on transit, we’re never going to get anywhere.