Toronto needs to heed global lessons on transit
Last year, Star readers put unifying the GTA’s transit under one authority as one of their “10 big ideas.” A year later, there has been no progress. Toronto Mayor John Tory is “not interested,” presumably because he does not want to give up control of services and projects that are what he gets elected to deliver. The Star suggested a unified system would “streamline decision making and eliminate co-ordination issues” but also would require a “source of long-term dedicated revenue.” ARyerson professor says “amalgamation” would push up wages.
As a transit professional, born and raised in Toronto, working for 40 years mostly in Europe and Australia, I cry in despair at the uninformed level of debate.
In the 1960s, the TTC led the world; visitors came from around the globe to learn from it. Why can’t Toronto now learn from other cities as they once learned from it? There are 50 cities with similar size and density and, yes, similar suburbanization and car ownership. They face similar challenges, but many have done much better than Toronto at addressing them.
Passengers want a co-ordinated service, with fares that are attractive. They don’t care what name is on the bus. Taxpayers want value for money, and won’t fund a bottomless pit. Politicians want to be able to take credit for progress. But calls for “simplification” only demonstrate ignorance. Transit is complicated — serving trips between thousands of different points, at different times of the day. The solution is not to “streamline” bad decision-making, but to encourage good decisions and efficiency. Integration is not something that can be decreed, but with the right incentives, buses and trains will be co-ordinated where it makes sense.
Since the 1980s, every German city has had a single transport authority, responsible for strategy and fares. For example, the Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund (RMV) serves Frankfurt region. With six million people, it’s about the same size as the GTA. RMV has 27 local government members, but the bus, rail and streetcar services are delivered by more than 40 operators. Some are private companies, some are owned by local governments. Competitive tendering has brought unit costs down by 30 per cent, while improving quality. Operators fund investment in new equipment. Passengers perceive an integrated system; fares are good for travel on any mode. The money is shared among the operators using a complex system that few politicians understand, but then how many politicians understand how a smartphone works? Municipalities can choose to fund different levels of services on local routes, so there is still plenty to keep politicians occupied.
While Germany has led the world in service integration, London leads in smarter fares. Using the Oyster card, Transport for London has shown how lower fares for off-peak trips, “capping” for frequent users and higher fares for morning commuters (and tourists!) can actually increase ridership and revenues. Free travel for children, students and seniors, and discounts for registered jobseekers, address equity concerns. Services have been doubled across the region over the past 15 years. Ridership has also doubled, generating more revenue in a “virtuous circle.” Fares from customers are the best form of “long-term dedicated revenue.”
Toronto has, unfortunately, looked to U.S. cities that (with exceptions) have few relevant lessons to teach. Planners and politicians have talked about fare integration for years, but nobody even seems to have looked at the German system (the Wikipedia page is in German!). When asked if it would consider introducing zone fares, a TTC spokesman responded this would be “unfair” to people making longer trips. Aren’t high flat fares equally “unfair” to people making short, off-peak trips?
When new lines in Hong Kong slipped behind schedule, top managers were sacked; in Toronto, they say “sorry” and carry on. Of course, in the U.K., Germany and Asia, top managers are paid salaries and bonuses appropriate for companies managing budgets in the billions. In Toronto, fear of the unions make competitive tendering a “no-go zone,” even though a growing system would actually create more jobs.
Until GTA politicians and planners figure out how to learn from the rest of the world, better transit will indeed remain a dream.