Bad math: Toronto giveth, but Toronto taketh more away

Some recent events leave me more befuddled than ever at the state of affairs in our fair City of Toronto, and wondering more than ever if intelligent leadership may emerge in time for next year's municipal election. Heck, I may actually have to pay attention to local politics for a change.

A few weeks ago I arrived home to my Scarborough apartment to find a letter addressed to "current tenant" from the City of Toronto. Great news, the letter and accompanying brochures and backgrounder heralded: my rent is being reduced!

Yes, the city elders have seen fit to lower property taxes in Toronto the good. As an apartment renter, of course, I don't pay property taxes directly: they're part of my rent, and are paid by thge property owner. By law, though, when property taxes are decreased by 2.49% or more, I get an automatic rent decrease.

How much, you ask? Why starting December 31, 2009, I can reduce my rent by a whopping 0.55%! For me, that amounts to a reduction of $4.34/month. Or, for the year, $52.08. Not much but hey, better than nothing right?

Then a few days later I went to buy my January Metropass, because the TTC is how I commute between my office and my luxury pad in Scarberia. And, as reported earlier, the TTC has raised prices. A lot. So the Metropass that cost me $109 in December cost me $121 for January. An increase of $12/month. Or $144 for the year.

So when you net out my property-tax driven rent decrease with my Toronto's massive funding shortfall-driven TTC fair increase, I'm in the hole by $7.66/month, or $91.92 over the year. And since I don't have the pleasure of working for the city I don't get an automatic pay increase that will cover it. Actually, we all took pay cuts this year due to the economy.

So thanks for nothing, City of Toronto. And by the way, why would you cut property taxes AND jack-up TTC fares? Obviously the city has money troubles, that was your justification for the fare increases. But then why would you cut property taxes?

I thought David Miller was supposed to be some kind of socialist or something. I didn't major in poly sci, so perhaps the nuance escapes me. But the logic of cutting property taxes, which will disproportionately benefit wealthy property owners (who probably don't take the TTC, I'd bet) while jacking-up TTC fares, which disproportionately hurts the less wealthy that can't afford to drive (and probably aren't big property owners) escapes me. It seems more like Reganesque trickle-down economic theory than anything else.

Are there any adults left at city hall?

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A Layton quote to remember

In an interview where NDP leader Jack Layton rules-out any intention to seek the Toronto mayoralty following the decision of the unpopular incumbent, David Miller, no not seek re-election, he also graces us with this gem:

Mr. Layton said that while Mayors typically do not emphasize their partisan connections, Mr. Miller's record serves as an example of how New Democrats govern.

You heard it here folks, and don't you forget: David Miller's tenure is an example of how NDPers govern. Next election, let's not forget that statement.

I know Torontonians won't.

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A smelly deal for Mayor Miller, and Torontonians

If the reports of the terms of the settlement in the Toronto garbage/others strike we're hearing are true (a virtual surrender by Mayor Miller) then a lot of people are going to have a hard time swallowing this. If you were going to capitulate, why not do it at the start, before enduring a long strike and allowing rotting stinking garbage to pile up in our parks?

People would have been more forgiving if it could be seen that enduring the strike had accomplished something, had generated real concessions on wages and this ridiculous sick-banking system to bring compensation in-line with the economic realities of the city, the country, and its citizens like myself, who are taking pay-cuts to keep our jobs, not getting generous wage increases.

By all reports, this deal stinks. I've never really gotten involved in municipal politics since I moved to Toronto, but next election I think that's going to change. If there's a strong, centerist candidate to oppose David Miller then I want to help. My fear, though, is another right-wing nut job being the only alternative, letting Miller slide back in again as the lesser evil.

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Mayor David Miller overthrown?

As the Toronto garbage strike continues with no end in sight, I, for one, welcome our new raccoon overlords. After the last mayor, they could be a definite improvement...

Message from the Toronto Raccoon Insurgency from openflows on Vimeo.

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Severe weather + mounds of rotting garbage = fun!

I'm a big fan of extreme weather. Particularly when I don't have to venture outside but can just watch it from the comfort of my home or office. So this advisory for Toronto this afternoon is interesting:

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH: City of Toronto Issued at 11:04 AM EDT THURSDAY 25 JUNE 2009

LOCALIZED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON WITH LARGE HAIL, DAMAGING WINDS, TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS, AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. THIS IS AN ALERT TO THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE IMMEDIATE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE ABOVE REGIONS. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL CONTAIN LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. TORRENTIAL RAIN OF 50 MILLIMETRES WITHIN AN HOUR AND INTENSE FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THE STORMS.

And add extreme wind, rain, thunder and hail to mounds of smelly rotting garbage dotting the city on day 4 of a city workers strike, and its a recipe for much interesting developments to be sure.

Have a fun afternoon, Mayor Miller.

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I left my heart in San Francisco...

...or so it seemed when I read the news once I got back from the left coast last week about the TTC's fare hikes.

I took transit, called MUNI, a few times while in San Francisco to get around the city and the fare was pretty reasonable. Indeed, compared to the TTC it was crazy cheap. Cash fare is US$1.50, and that's good for 90 minutes in any direction unlike the TTC, where transfers are one-way. I checked their Web site, and a monthly pass can be had for US$45.

Then I get back to Toronto, and I read this:

In November, 15 cents will be added to the cost of tickets and tokens, bringing the price to $2.25.

Riders will also pay much more – $109, up from $99.75 – for the Metropass, which was exempted from last year's fare increase. TTC chair Adam Giambrone resisted a recommendation from staff to increase it to $111. The $2.75 cash fare will remain the same.

I already find TTC fares incredibly high, and now they're jacking them up even higher? I've only been here a little over two years and this is at least the second, if not the third, fare hike in that time. I'm a regular transit user, I buy a Metropass each month, and now that's going to cost me $109? That's inane! The break-even point on tokens vs. Metropass is already too high.

And what do I get for that $109? I get to squeeze onto an overcrowded bus that comes far too infrequently. My bus in the morning doubles as a school bus, which means if I try to catch it between 8:05am and 8:40am, if I'm lucky enough to get on board (they often fly by full) I'm hanging onto a railing for dear life. So I either get to work very early, or late. It's the same in the peak going home, and yet frequency is still extremely low.

The idea with public transit, and the public subsidization thereof, is supposed to be to get people out of their cars and onto transit, to reduce gridlock and reduce emissions. When you have an overburdened system though, for which you keep jacking-up fares to crazy levels, you make it very hard for people to want to leave their cars.

Now, I'm sure this all has to do with the ongoing Mayor Miller vs. The World battle at city hall, and us poor plebes are just caught in the middle. Although, the fact the TTC chair says even if the mayor gets his tax hikes these fare increases are here to stay hurts that case a tad. Still, clearly the city, province and the feds need to put more money into the system. They're asking riders to pay too great a share.

By the way, this serves to expose the uselessness of the Harper government's tax credit on transit passes. That's not what the system needs, and it's of absolutely no help. What it needs is more base funding to lower fares and increase capacity, which will encourage people to ditch their cars.

And finally, they increased Metropass and token/ticket prices, but they left cash fares unchanged. Why? Why punish your most loyal customers, the ones that give you a steady revenue stream each month? Is it because you know they're less likely/less able to stop taking the TTC because of the increase than the casual, cash fare customer?

Probably. It's basically the TTC giving the finger to its most loyal customers. They may not lose many current customers, but people thinking of switching to transit will be thinking twice. More cars on the road, more gridlock, more emissions.

I should have stayed in San Francisco.

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Bite me David Miller

I've never really cared much about Toronto municipal politics or really paid much attention to then but I'm going to have to start, because this news on transit cuts coming-out of city hall yesterday is total BS, and completely irresponsible political posturing by Miller and company.

Near as I can tell there’s a pissing match going on between the right wing and left wing factions at city hill, most recently over balancing the budget. When the right wingers embarrassed Miller and won a rare motion the other day to defer a vote on tax increases, Miller decided all of a sudden massive budget cuts were needed, primarily to the TTC. For some reason, he never mentioned this before the vote…

In addition to reducing hours for libraries and community centres, the biggest cuts are to the TTC including a major one, the mothballing of the Sheppard Subway line, plus the cancellation of 21 bus routes. And on top of that, a 25 cent fare increase.

Don’t remember Miller and his cronies campaigning last year on slashing transit service either…

This is though, this is all politics. One the one hand, it’s designed to turn public opinion against the right wing councilors that voted against Miller’s $350 million tax increase. Never mind the fact Miller’s side refused to even consider a symbolic pay cut for councilors, calling it a stupid stunt.

But more than that, this is about the upcoming provincial election, and it’s about the fallout of the downloading of the Mike Harris era. Miller wants more money from the province (and feds) to address systemic structural funding shortfalls and help him balance the budget.

This splashy scare mongering is really aimed at Dalton McGuinty and John Tory. Miller wants to make this a provincial election issue, hoping with the pressure of the campaign trail one or both of them will promise to pony-up big cash, saving the city from its manufactured fiscal crisis and letting the subway trains keep rolling.

I’m not unsympathetic to the arguments around downloading, I think it’s a real issue that needs to be seriously addressed. But recklessly playing games with the transit system at a time ridership numbers are finally starting to rise is not the way to do it. Just the news today alone is going to be sending many people back to their cars, clogging the highways and belching exhaust.

David Miller needs to grow-up and approach this responsibly. Is there any adult supervision down at city hall?

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Make taxis Go Green

When it comes to turning environmental talk into environmental action, this seems like such a simple and sensible idea: the B.C. government wants all future taxi licenses to only be approved for hybrid or highly-fuel efficient vehicles:

B.C. government is putting pressure on taxi companies in its two largest urban areas to run greener vehicles.

The province has asked the province's Passenger Transportation Board to approve taxi licenses for only hybrid or other highly fuel-efficient cars, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said Monday. He also wants the 100 existing applications before the board to only be approved if they're for the greener vehicles.

In addition to the stick, the province also points to available carrots, including a provincial tax exemption of up to $2000 for fuel efficient vehicles, and a federal rebate of up to $2000 as well.

With the usual turnover cycle in taxi fleets, the province hopes B.C’s entire taxi-fleet will be green in time for the 2010 Games. I understand a hybrid taxi push is also underway in New York City.

Given the amount of cabs out there, and the time they spend on the road each day, making taxis go hybrid could make a nice impact on air quality.

Particularly on smog days like we’re having this week in Toronto and much of Southern Ontario. I’d have to think hybrid taxis would be a real winner here, and I’m surprised Toronto Mayor David Miller hasn’t done anything on the front yet. Might also be a good measure for Dalton McGuinty to jump on, with an election coming-up this fall.

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