Metrolinx offered to reinstate GO bus service to York on condition school pay $800,000 to students
Thestar.com
March 5, 2019
Ben Spurr
Metrolinx made an offer earlier this year to reinstate GO Transit bus service to York University, but only on the condition the school come up with $800,000 to compensate students who have been paying double fares since the lines were rerouted, the Star has learned.
The university balked at the agency’s demand however, and Metrolinx continues to reroute GO buses that used to directly serve York’s Keele campus to a station on the TTC’s new subway extension.
Sebastien Lalonde, with the York Federation of Students, said Metrolinx’s condition that York pay $800,000 to students who had to pay two fares in order to reinstate Go bus service was evidence the offer was “made in bad faith” as it would have been a “logistical nightmare” for York to figure out a system to compensate affected students.
The redirection of bus service to the Highway 407 stop about two kilometres from the school began in January and has infuriated many students, faculty and others travelling by GO bus to York, who now have to pay a second fare of at least $1.50 each way to take the subway to and from campus.
York University and Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency that operates GO, each say the other was responsible for the bus route change.
On Jan. 25, after the controversy around the bus changes was reported in the media, Metrolinx president and chief executive officer Phil Verster wrote to York president Rhonda Lenton. In the letter, obtained by the Star, Verster told Lenton that Metrolinx was prepared to resume reduced bus service to campus starting in April, but laid out two conditions.
The first was that the school make students paying a second fare “financially whole” -- in other words, compensate them for their additional transit costs. The payment would cover the period between January and April, after which limited bus service would resume, and Metrolinx estimated it would cost York $800,000.
Verster also asked the university to confirm bus facilities at the school’s Common would remain available to GO for up to three years.
Verster said in order to have enough time to plan for restarting service to campus in April, Metrolinx required the school’s written agreement to its proposal by Jan. 30, just five days from the date of his letter.
Lenton wrote back Jan. 30 and said while the school could guarantee the availability of Common bus facilities, it couldn’t pay the $800,000.
“As a predominantly public and student-funded institution, the university is not in a position to use its operating dollars intended for student learning and research to offset the costs of regional transportation services,” she wrote.
Asked by the Star why he made the return of bus service contingent on York compensating its own students, Verster suggested in an email Monday his agency and the provincial government were already doing their fair share to keep the cost of transit low.
He noted that in January 2018 the province cut the cost of transferring between GO and the TTC by $1.50, and that Metrolinx had kept bus service to campus going for a year after the subway extension opened “to minimize financial impact to York University students.”
Sebastien Lalonde, vice-president of campaigns and advocacy for the York Federation of Students, said the $800,000 condition was evidence Metrolinx’s offer was “made in bad faith.”
He argued it would have been a “logistical nightmare” for York to figure out a system to compensate affected students, and it was clear the administration would never agree.
“This is money that the students and government have put toward post-secondary education. It should not be used to supplement a transit provider’s mistake,” he said.
“Metrolinx knew that York would never be able to do this.”
Jessica Bell, the NDP’s transit critic, said the party plans to introduce a motion in the Legislature Tuesday calling on Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek, a Progressive Conservative MP for Elgin-Middlesex-London, to intervene and restore bus service to campus.
She said York and Metrolinx “can continue the negotiations” and decide later who is going to reimburse students and university workers.
“It’s not necessary for the buses to be held hostage while these negotiations continue,” said Bell, who is MPP for University-Rosedale.
Yurek’s spokesperson Mike Winterburn said Metrolinx had “worked to find alternative solutions” with York to maintain service and had consistently put students first.
“The minister supports Metrolinx in its ongoing efforts,” he said.
The decision to reroute bus service to Highway 407 station affected seven GO bus routes and about 575 daily bus trips to and from the university. The routes were used by about 8,600 riders every day.
The school and Metrolinx provide different explanations for how the change occurred. Metrolinx says York asked it to leave campus because the school planned to redesign the Common where the buses dropped off passengers to make the area for pedestrians only.
The York administration says it planned to pedestrianize the Common because it has long been Metrolinx’s intention to redirect buses to the Highway 407 stop. The school says problems have only arisen because the province has failed to implement fare integration between the TTC and GO, and riders transferring between the two systems still have to pay a second fare.
The service Verster proposed in his Jan. 25 letter would be more infrequent than what used to serve the campus. GO buses would run between Highway 407 station and York campus “according to demand.”
Students would have the choice of taking the bus at no extra cost, or paying the extra fare to ride the subway.
Verster said the two parties are still “exploring options” for bringing back service at a low cost to students.
Yanni Dagonas, deputy spokesperson for York, said “ the lines of communication with Metrolinx remain open” and the administration is committed to working with the transit agency to ensure students “have access to the best possible fares and services.”
