Ottawa gives TTC money for new electric buses, but no funding to operate them

Thestar.com
April 25, 2023

Ottawa will chip in $349 million to help the TTC buy more electric buses -- but no money to help the cash-strapped transit agency run them.

“We need to bring TTC buses into the 21st century so that everyone in Toronto can enjoy a cleaner, more sustainable city and transit system,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, representative for the federal riding of University-Rosedale, at a news conference in North York on Monday, accompanied by Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie.

The federal funding, combined with $348 million pledged by the city in this year’s budget, will enable the TTC to purchase 340 zero-emission buses and 248 bus chargers, as well as support infrastructure upgrades. There was no timeline for the buses’ delivery.

Environment and transit advocates were quick to point out that the investment comes as the TTC faces a $360-million shortfall in its operating budget. Neither the province nor the federal government has pledged to cover it, despite the city’s pleas.

“Electric buses could end up sitting in the garage if federal and provincial governments don’t provide TTC operating funding for someone to drive them,” transit advocacy group TTCriders wrote on Twitter.

The TTC has hiked fares by 10 cents and plans to cut service by five per cent this year to make up for lagging revenues, as ridership hovers around 70 per cent of pre-COVID levels. In March, the transit agency made changes to service on 20 per cent of its routes, creating longer wait times for many riders.

Another round of service changes is planned for May, which, according to early drafts, will include less frequent service on the subway’s Line 1.

Electric buses, along with hybrid buses and electric Wheel-Trans vehicles, are a big part of the TTC’s plan to transition to a zero-emissions fleet by 2040, in keeping with the city’s accelerated goal to be carbon net neutral by that date.

Toronto currently has 60 electric buses, and plans to have 1,850 by 2033, according to the TTC’s capital investment plan. But it will need significant funding -- even beyond this latest investment -- to get there.

Nate Wallace, clean transportation program manager for Environmental Defence, said the announcement showed the federal government was “out of touch” and said meeting climate targets will require more support for transit than “just ribbon-cutting.”

“The TTC is facing the threat of a death spiral, a vicious cycle of service cuts and fare hikes that push people away from public transit and into their cars, further decreasing revenue, leading to further service cuts,” Wallace said in a statement. “If this is allowed to happen, it will make Toronto more congested, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and have the greatest impact on society’s most vulnerable.”

McKelvie’s reference Monday to the “strong partnership” between Toronto and Ottawa stood in marked contrast to remarks she made a month ago. In the wake of the federal budget, McKelvie said she was “disappointed (Freeland) -- a Toronto MP -- would ignore a direct commitment the federal Liberals made during the last election to former mayor John Tory” to help Toronto with its finances.

Toronto was hoping Ottawa would match the province’s pledge of $235 million to help cover its operating shortfall from 2022, as well as help fill a projected $933-million gap in this year’s operating budget due to COVID-related expenses.

On Monday, McKelvie said the $700-million total investment in electric buses “demonstrates the positive steps forward we can make for our residents, for our cities, and for our environment when our governments work together.”

However, she admitted the city has still not found a solution to cash woes that continue to threaten key services, from public transit to homeless shelters.

Freeland said the city should look to Doug Ford’s government for operating help, and urged Torontonians to write to their local MPPs.

“When it comes to the city of Toronto’s shortfall, I really urge the city to take responsibility -- as it does -- for its own operating, and to look to the order of government which is directly responsible for the city of Toronto,” Freeland said. “That is the province.”

In a statement, Victoria Podbielski, a spokesperson for Steve Clark, Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, said the province has “continually stepped up and delivered funding to support the city of Toronto, while the federal government has failed to provide concrete solutions.”

Podbielski cited Ontario’s contribution to the city’s operating pressures from last year, and funds for supportive housing and local transit.

McKelvie did not let either level of government off the hook.

“Right now we’re stuck in the middle as Canada’s largest city between the province, between the federal government,” she said. “We are asking for help. We need both of them to come to the table to help Toronto because it is the biggest economic engine of Canada.”