(Toronto) The Ontario Liberals pledged Monday to cut provincewide transit fares to $1 a ride, if elected.
Posted at 1:49 p.m.
The election pledge would cost 1.1 billion next year and could take 400,000 cars off the road every day, the party said. The plan would be in effect until January 2024 and would include monthly transit passes for $40.
Chief Steven Del Duca said the move would be a way to address both an affordability crisis, as well as the low transit ridership that has been seen in the wake of the pandemic.
“As fewer people take public transport and life begins to return to normal, more and more people are getting back into their cars, which is causing traffic jams on our roads, he said. Worse still, it harms our environment. »
The Liberals are dubbing their plan the “buck-a-ride,” a reference to a popular part of Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford’s 2018 platform to offer $1 beer, or “buck-a-beer.”
Mr. Del Duca touted Monday’s public transit announcement while criticizing some of Mr. Ford’s investments in highways, particularly the proposed Highway 413 around the Greater Toronto Area. The Tories say it will save people driving to work up to 30 minutes, but Mr Del Duca and other critics say that won’t happen and the project will only help spreading.
The Progressive Conservatives are promising a number of other road projects, including widening Highway 401 east of Toronto and improving the Queen Elizabeth Way in the Niagara region. Mr Del Duca said he would invest in highways “where it makes sense”.
“I know that in many parts of Ontario, expanding and repairing our road network is critically important for moving goods, for those who drive to work and, frankly, for the safety of the traveling public,” he said.
Mr Del Duca was asked if he would pay for the promise by reinstating license plate renewal fees – the Progressive Conservative government recently scrapped them and the move is set to cost £1billion in lost revenue.
“Ontario families are struggling, so we’re not looking to make life harder for them,” he said.
The $1 fares would apply to all transit systems in Ontario, including GO Transit, municipal transit services and Ontario Northland service. The party said it would save a rider taking the GO train from Whitby to Toronto more than $300 a month, for example.
Liberals promise to replace lost revenue from transit systems and invest an additional $375 million in annual transit operating funding to support more trips, extended hours of service, accessibility and intercity connections .
They are also committed to making public transit free for veterans.
New Democrats said voters can’t trust the Liberals to make public transit affordable because when Del Duca was transportation minister in the previous Liberal government, public transit “became worse and worse.” worse”.
Leader Andrea Horwath said an NDP government would pay half the cost of operating transit systems, giving municipalities more leeway to lower fares.