City
What about a 1% transit tax?
One thing we do quite well in Toronto is talking about transit funding and expansion. Building new infrastructure? Well, that's another story. The latest conversation piece comes courtesy of former mayoral candidate and Women's Post publisher Sarah Thomson, who's calling for a 1% increase in sales tax to fund long-term transit development. Alternately called Unlock the Gridlock or the 1% Solution, the accompanying website appears a bit short on specifics as far as future projects go, though the Star has the campaign pushing for a Downtown Relief Line, which seems logical from my perspective.
The bigger issue is whether or not the simplicity of this idea will have any legs. The Fords are already on record against any special taxes to fund transit, but GTA residents show at least some support for the idea. Perhaps a dedicated campaign will actually change a few minds about the idea in general? It'll be a challenge to raise the funds to make this idea visible enough to make difference, but Thomson is well connected, and that should help get the ball rolling at a very minimum.
Have your say.
Photo by Tony Lea in the blogTO Flickr pool
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We need a solution now, not in decades to come. Y'all know what the answer is. But, most lamewad-hipster-bibsters are too chicken poop to do anything about it!
We all know how this is going to play out. Nada. Zilch. Zero.
Then in two years for the mayoral race, the same conversation will take place, and again, nada, zilch, zero. Then ten years, then twenty. I see no change coming.
This city, since amalgamation, is too toxic and divided to ever come up with ANYTHING long-term that will appease anyone.
Getting rid of the TTC union and managment will save the equivilant of a 3% tax.
I don't want to have to pay for a system I don't take and hate. Raise fares to $5 for all I care, put tolls on the highways for people that come out of town. They are the ones that generally congest the city. But don't force people that don't use it to pay for it.
There is probably not enough support for a new tax and 1% is not enough to make the cost of administering it worthwhile.
Ford doesn't want to suggest a new tax at the expense of his electoral support (not that he has any other real ideas for transit funding anyway).
What we could do, however, is take some or all of the existing revenue that comes from taxes and other charges levied in Toronto on everything related to transit and mobility (fuel tax, GST on new vehicles, registration fees, licence renewals, etc.) and put that into a fund to improve all forms of transport within the city.
Grrr taxes!
Grrr I have no knowledge of how funding and governance work!
There are a number of revenue generating tools at hand that are all taxes, government fees, or fare price rises. Lowering the cost is needed but if Lord Ford can't do it then who can?
In an ideal world users would pay the price and not be subsidized by government. Is there any other transit system in the world where this occurs? I would love to see how they manage it and what their taxes on drivers are like.
At $5 a ride would it make more economical sense to drive? With everybody driving it's likely that it would cripple our economy. Housing prices in the downtown core would go way up as walking would be the best alternative. Parking spots would become scarce or their prices would go up with the demand. I would finally get a seat on the morning rush hour subway.
Leave it to the right to spew 100% BS non stop just to make sure we never build anything ever.
The private sector will pay for it... oh wait there was that time when they were asked to help pay for a Sheppard subway and all the developers refused to help.
The province/feds will pay for it... oh right they both have massive deficits right now and had absolutely no problem saying no to Toronto before when they could actually afford to help.
The gravy will pay for it... oh right except for that whole KPMG audit which basically identified things like "parks" as the gravy + anything that was reasonable to cut added up to a tiny amount vs what we need to be spending yearly on transit.
It's not a luxury service for the wealthy. It's in large part to provide affordable transportation for those who cannot afford other means such as owning their own car.
You came across like nothing more than an over-privileged asshole. Congratulations.
A private company will slash all those slackers that work for the TTC and there will be no need for rate increases and taxes. Torontonians have no idea on what realy goes on at the TTC. it's a joke and it is sickening to me how they take advantage of the innocent riders.
TTC need to go private and it will benefit the citizens of toronto that pay fares.
i rarely use the TTC but i know what goes on inside the offices, Garages, & maintence facility. its a Joke if the common person sees it.
drivers pay the same for city roads as do transit riders, from the property tax everyone pays.
City roads are subsidized 100%. the TTC is subsidized 27%.
But you know this, you choose to ignore it, you feel entitled because you drive
Right because if profit was the only reason to run buses we would definitely have just as much transit in the burbs.
We are a shortsighted city. We can never and will never get our shit together and think about the future.
That said, what is the right format? I personally prefer a payroll tax, because it is more invisible to the Ford Nation neanderthals who unfortunately still make up a quarter of the population. Certainly works for Paris, New York and other places and you can scale it based on geography -- i.e. the Paris core pays 2.6%, inner suburbs 1.7% and outer suburbs 1.4%. But you know what? All politics are local, and in Toronto a sales tax would actually work.
Because we already had one.
It was a special extra 2% sales tax that went to a dedicated fund - for deficits and all things federal. Went by the name of "GST". Remember that?
Life did not end when the GST was 7%. It was nice that it was rolled back to 5% by Harper, but obviously life will go on if it goes back to 7%, where that extra 2% instead of being for federal use now becomes a Toronto Tax, 1% for transit and 1% for other citywide capital infrastructure.
The benefits of more transit are obvious. But it is important to fund the other capital needs also. If you have had the chance to live outside of Toronto recently you will notice how shabby the place is -- all concrete and buckets of ugly. No spit and polish, creaking infrastructure. Take a look at Oklahoma City, a hick wasteland that now has downtown spaces that put parts of Toronto to shame, all because they have had a 1% sales tax for downtown capital improvements:
http://archrecord.construction.com/features/2012/American-City/Oklahoma/Oklahoma-City.asp
So yes, go for the sales tax, because we already had it. Only this time put it to transit and downtown improvements. Easy-peasy.
Extra tax on all parking tickets and moving violations (don't pay your tickets? you don't get to renew your license)
Create a separate transit fund where we can see and track all revenues and expenses and how we are benefitting and you may get me interested. Unless that happens I'm not willing to support any idea that pumps more money into the City's general revenues.
I don't want my tax money going towards unnecessary fighter jets and corporate tax cuts, or paying the mayor to coach high school football, but there you go. And unlike the examples I just cited, improved transit benefits everyone. Even if you never take a bus, streetcar or subway, as a driver, you will benefit from the reduction in vehicular traffic. I take transit, and I own a car, and I have no problem with this at all. As long as they make sure that the money goes into a dedicated fund for transit, and not into general revenues.
Torontonians love to complain about transit, but nobody, from the mayor on down, seems to actually want to pay for it. Finally, for members of the "Tax the riders" brigade, should people that don't drive get a rebate on that portion of their taxes that go towards road maintenance and construction? Grow up. I'm not sure if it's the economy, or the current administration, but over the past few years, people in Toronto have become petty and short-sighted, and we're all suffering as a result.
to let you know i have complained to city council. they want me to write letters. do you think it goes anywhere? it is a revolving door where they write me back and tell me they are looking in to it. no one want to get their hands dirty. this is why it is time for the people of toronto to know. and forums are how i get it out there.
Simple camera toll like the 407, but you only send a bill if the plate is registered outside the GTA.
Or you only "turn on" the tolls during rush hours (7:30 AM - 10 AM and 3 PM - 7PM).
Tax the behaviour!
We might get better quality on the routes that make money but that's only because private companies wouldn't spend anything on routes that lose.
The TTC needs to move to a payment by distance model then people using less congested lines would be paying closer to what it actually costs to provide service to them... that should be the transit rider participation in this massive fundraising activity.
@Giancarlo: why don't you and the other neocon drones/slaves who've commented here buy copies of Sim City and build a virtual city that you want to with all of the crap private services that you love so much? Either that, or find another planet to live and do your neocon privatized bullshit on, away from the rest of us who are smart enough to know that privatized transit doesn't work.