Public-private fare system undecided

“So they will have a significant savings by not having to run the buses,” Chiarelli said.

Shifting the bus savings to the Eglinton-Crosstown was the plan until the TTC was cut out of the picture, Stintz said.

“In the original model we would operate the line. So anything we didn’t spend on buses we would contribute to the Crosstown. The same applied to Finch and Sheppard and (the light-rail conversion of ) the Scarborough RT. But if we’re not operating those lines we’re not paying those costs.”

Although Stintz said she was pleased by Metrolinx’s assurances that TTC riders wouldn’t pay extra to ride the new transit, “It’s still unclear how the TTC sets fares for a private operator,” she said.

“The fare and the fare-sharing is a future discussion,” said Jack Collins, Metrolinx vice-president for Rapid Transit Implementation.

But the parties have agreed in principle that it will be a one-fare system, “that whatever the TTC’s prevailing fare is in 2020, that will be the fare the customer pays,” he said. It will be part of a coming agreement between Metrolinx, the city and the TTC, Collins said.

He downplayed concerns about the impact of integrating the LRTs with the TTC, saying it would work as seamlessly as the privately operated Canada Line, which connects with the Vancouver transit system.

How the two systems will collect and divide fare revenues is still undecided, said Collins.

Also unclear, said a Metrolinx spokesman, is how the private operator would move riders when LRT service is disrupted.

Although the TTC would have preferred to maintain and operate the LRTs itself, CEO Andy Byford said Toronto transit officials will be “100-per-cent” co-operative.

“To do otherwise would disadvantage the customer, so there’s no way we’re going to do that. I don’t think it’s ideal having two operators . . . there’s potential for confusion, and that’s what we’ve got to avoid,” he said. With nearly a decade before the lines open, “We ought to be able to get our act together in that time,” he said. The LRTs will need their own control rooms and evacuation procedures so there’s no question of who is in charge in an emergency, he said. Byford, who worked in a public-private rail system in England, said it’s safety-critical that the TTC and Metrolinx co-operate in the design of the stations where the subway and LRT will intersect, at Kennedy, Eglinton West and Yonge St. While Metrolinx insists that a privatized operation is better for taxpayers, some transit watchers say it will be a mess for riders. “It’s a disaster waiting to happen. They do not have the service planning tools or any of it to make this work.” said left-wing Councillor Gord Perks (Parkdale-High Park). “What lesson should we take from the (Highway) 407, eHealth and ORNGE? Don’t set up an arm’slength decision-making body and have them set up contracts with the private sector.”