Toronto transit system stuck in the slow track as pandemic shuts down Canada’s financial capital

Streetcar equipment that’s almost 100 years old. asbestos-lined subway tunnels. computer systems from decades ago. Before the coronavirus hit, Toronto’s public transit agency needed billions of dollars to fix and expand lines and meet the demands of the city’s explosive growth.

Now, as the pandemic shuts down large parts of Canada’s financial capital, the number of passengers has collapsed, creating a revenue sinkhole.

Transit authorities around the world are grappling with similar funding shorfalls, but Toronto is in a double bind. It has the fastest-growing population of any metropolitan area in the US or Canada, according to researchers at Ryerson University. It also relies on passengers, rather than taxation or government subsidies, for most of its operating money — a model that has been a losing proposition during the pandemic.

Ridership on the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) network has plunged by about 80% over the past three months. Even with plans to cut staffing 7% from 2018 levels — or by about 1,000 jobs — Chief Executive Officer Rick Leary still sees a deficit of about C$400 million ($292 million) by the end of the year.

“When you’ re depending on the fare box as greatly as the TTC, that presents a problem,” said Leary, who started his career as a train driver in Boston.

Roughly two-thirds of the TTC’S operating costs are covered by fares, one of the highest percentages anywhere in north america. new york’ s metropolitan Transport Authority, for example, relied on fares for 38% of its revenue in 2019, with tolls and dedicated taxes making up the bulk of funding.

It’s also not clear when riders will come back. Toronto and its suburbs trailed much of the rest of Canada in reopening offices and retail outlets because COVID-19 cases were higher. Two dozen major employers agreed in May to keep most of their downtown staff at home until at least September. The list includes banks, insurance firms, telecommunications companies and colleges whose employees represent a huge number of daily passengers.

Leary is worried some riders may never return as work-from-home habits take hold or anxious employees turn to cycling or cars to avoid potential infection — at least until there’s a vaccine.

In the meantime, the TTC is doing what it can to make riders feel comfortable, Leary said. That means handing out 1 million free protective masks and instituting a strict sanitation regime, while geting the system back to a regular service schedule as soon as possible.

Leary says he’s is in talks with all levels of government about ways to fill the TTC’S funding gap, but his options are limited. In New York, the

MTA will be able to access the Federal Reserve’s $500 billion lending program, giving mass transit another avenue to raise cash.

Dealing with a revenue collapse and devising new sanitation procedures is a big departure from what 57-year-old Leary expected to be doing when he took the helm of TTC in 2018. Back then, he had plans to focus on a C$33.5 billion capital reinvestment program, with the goal of building Toronto a transport system commensurate with its status as one of North America’s largest cities.

Toronto overtook the Dallas-fort Worth Arlington area to become the fastest-growing metro area in Canada and the US last year, according to a report from Ryerson University’s Centre for Urban Research and Land Development.

While the TTC is in need of expansion of routes and subway lines, Leary has also put heavy emphasis on improving efficiency through maintenance programs and outsourcing.

Making the trains at least run on time is in Leary’s blood. His father was a streetcar operator in Boston. Theyoungerlearyputhimselfthroughnortheastern University driving trains for the Massachusets Bay Transportation Authority. Then he earned a degree in administration and management at Harvard.

It was his father who pointed out a job managing York Region Transit that brought him to Ontario. For a guy who grew up watching Canadian ice hockey superstars such as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Derek Sanderson, moving north was a lifelong dream.

“We always lost to the Canadian hockey teams. But that was OK because they were the Canadians,” said Leary, who became a Canadian citizen last August and claims his Boston drawl isn’t as strong as it used to be. “I’m the proudest Canadian I know.”

Divya Balji, Tribune News Service