Transit agencies of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal make federal funding plea

Transit agencies of Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal make joint federal funding plea

A RapidBus vehicle in Metro Vancouver (TransLink), a TTC Subway train (JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock), and a STM Montreal Metro train (Benoit Daoust/Shutterstock).

Ahead of the mid-April announcement of the Government of Canada’s 2024 budget, the three largest public transit authorities of the country are making a joint plea urging the federal government to expedite and increase its investments in public transit.

In their joint federal budget submission, Metro Vancouver’s TransLink, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), and the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) are calling on the promised new federal annual Permanent Transit Fund (PTF) begin in early 2024 instead of the original schedule of 2026 to support critical projects and programs.

Additionally, they suggest the PTF alone is not enough, and are asking the federal government to permanently double the Canadian Communities Building Fund (CCBF) as a proven predictable funding stream for municipal infrastructure needs towards public transit.

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The services operated by all three public transit authorities account for 60% of Canada’s total public transit ridership. But with lasting financial challenges due to the pandemic’s impacts, they are looking for an ongoing funding model that is less reliant on demand-driven funding like transit fares, gas taxes, and property taxes.

All three of Canada’s largest urban regions are also expected to see major population growth totalling 2.35 million additional residents before 2050, which creates an urgency to improve the state of good repair condition, capacity, and reliability of public transit services. Additional federal investment towards public transit would also support new transit-oriented developments and affordable housing projects.

“Just last year, Metro Vancouver’s population grew by 90,000 people — which was nearly double the projected growth for our region. As our population grows it’s imperative that our transit system expands as well. A federal funding commitment is urgently needed to help us meet the needs of our growing region through our 10-year Access for Everyone plan,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn in a statement.

TransLink is looking for federal funding support towards covering the costs of its first three Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects, intending to complete and start these services by 2027. Each of these three BRT projects carries an estimated cost of between $250 million and $300 million for changing road infrastructure for extensive bus priority measures, not including the additional funding required to expand TransLink’s bus depot facilities to handle an expanded bus fleet.

By 2027, TransLink is looking to buy more buses at a cost of $375 million to both expand peak period bus services and launch BRT, expand bus depot capacity at a cost of $1.4 billion, improve active transportation and carry out road safety projects at a cost of $70 million, and start Golden Ears Way’s BRT and goods-movement infrastructure improvements at a cost of $120 million.

The TTC wants federal funding to help cover the cost of replacing its aging subway trains on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth. They state this line needs at least 55 new replacement trains and to add capacity at a total cost of $2.3 billion, with the aim of having the federal government cover $758 million to match funding from Ontario’s provincial government and the City of Toronto.

Additionally, for Line 1 Yonge-University, the TTC needs 25 new trains at a cost of $1 billion for capacity growth and a new subway train depot at a cost of $3.3 billion. It is forecast that Line 1 will need a 55% capacity increase by 2040 due to surging ridership demand from high-density, transit-oriented developments, and overall population growth.

Overall, the TTC states it needs $1.8 to $2.3 billion in new capital funding annually over the next 15 years to address its deferred maintenance, modernization projects, and transition to a zero-emission, battery-electric bus fleet.

“With the City of Toronto and Province of Ontario committing hundreds of millions of dollars toward new subway trains for Line 2, we are hoping the Government of Canada will open the PTF early in order for us to start the process of purchasing the new trains. While that’s our immediate pressure, we also hope to be able to use this fund for new buses,” said Rick Leary, CEO of the TTC.

The STM needs $2.9 billion to replace its aging MR-73 Metro trains, which are now amongst the oldest in the world being actively used on a subway network. Another $1 billion is also needed for subway train depot facilities, and about $3 billion for a new train control system to increase frequency and reliability on the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines.

Improving the accessibility of the Metro subway will cost another $910 million, and other state of good repair upgrades will cost over $3.2 billion. STM is also looking to buy $1.7 billion of battery-electric buses over the coming decade and upgrade its bus depots for battery-electric buses at a cost of over $1 billion.

“We need that funding now to ensure reliable operation of our networks. It’s unthinkable that we would have to cut public transit services or put off refurbishing and replacing our outdated infrastructure because the available funds were allocated too late,” added Marie-Claude Léonard, CEO of STM.

All three public transit authorities want the start of the PTF expedited to early 2024 to enable them to begin the procurement process of acquiring new buses and trains sooner rather than later.

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