Council rejects request to study whether Scarborough subway is good value for money

A motion from Councillor Josh Matlow to study the costs and benefits of the subway compared to the alternative failed in a 13-27 vote.

Thestar.com
Dec. 6, 2017Z
By Jennifer Pagliaro

A bid to find out whether the Scarborough subway is good value for money has again failed at city council.

On Wednesday, a motion from Councillor Josh Matlow asking his colleagues to direct the auditor general to include a cost-benefits comparison of the $3.35 billion one-stop subway extension and the light-rail alternative in her 2018 work plan failed 13-27.

"Before we invest billions of dollars, we should have the most relevant, basic facts in front of us about whether or not there is value for every dollar invested. Also that we are providing the kind of service that residents need," Matlow said on the council floor. "We are elected to not only represent our communities but represent the people of Toronto and be responsible with every dollar that we're entrusted with."

Those backing the subway plan claimed Matlow's motion was simply an attempt to delay the subway.

"This is an ongoing attempt to delay, to waffle, to stop this vital transit extension," said Councillor James Pasternak, a member of Tory's executive committee.

Council earlier voted to advance the design of a one-stop subway that will extend the Bloor-Danforth line from Kennedy Station to a new stop at the Scarborough Town Centre - tunneling 6.2 kilometres.

Council still has to vote in 2019 whether to move forward with building the subway once a more accurate cost estimate is provided by city and TTC staff who are currently working to advance the subway to 30 per cent design.

Matlow's motion asked for a report back from the auditor general in the second quarter of 2018.

Senior city staff have repeatedly confirmed that kind of analysis has never been requested and therefore never produced. The motion needed 30 votes to pass.

This week, outgoing TTC CEO Andy Byford told CBC's Matt Galloway he had "no objection" to the study being done.

And former chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat tweeting Wednesday morning: "For a capital project of $3.56B that continues to see cost escalations, there is a tipping point at which the cost-benefit analysis becomes questionable. Responsible government would continually, honestly assess this question and have alternatives in hand."

The subway would replace the aging Scarborough RT. But that wasn't always the plan.

Council originally approved a seven-stop LRT to replace the SRT, which would have connected Scarborough Town Centre, and Centennial College and Malvern to a rapid transit stop for the first time.

That LRT was part of a master agreement with the province signed in 2012, and was fully funded by the province. That agreement is still signed today.

In 2013, under former mayor Rob Ford - and at the urging of Scarborough Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, who was facing re-election, and former TTC Chair Councillor Karen Stintz, who was planning to run for the mayor's chair - council scrapped the LRT in favour of the subway, then estimated to cost $2 billion more.

Council approved raising property taxes to pay for the more expensive line - $910 million in total - which the city started collecting in 2014 and will continue collecting for at least the next 30 years.

Councillor Gord Perks questioned why his colleagues would not want to know whether the subway is good value for money when compared to the alternatives.

"The plain fact remains, by voting no to what Councillor Matlow is doing, effectively what you are doing is saying 'We don't want to know.'"