The Real Costs of Subways – Is The Provincial Government Listening?
Posted by zweisystem on Sunday, October 13, 2013 · 5 Comments
There is a misconception by Vancouver politicians and engineers; TransLink’s planners and bureaucrats; Ministry of Transportation bureaucrats; and The Minister of Transportation and the Premier, that subways are rather cheap to build.
TransLink has fortified this perception by deliberately over-engineering light rail to sell the idea that the cost of at-grade and or on-street light rail is near of that of a bored or cut and cover subway. The mainstream media has certainly has been fooled by this ruse.
In reality, the cost of subway construction is massive, as is the cost ofAi?? maintenance as the subway ages. The real cost of a Broadway subway would soon consume any TransLink tax increases and have TransLink crying pauper, yet again, is very short order.
The Metro Vancouver area is facing a grave transportation crisis, which simple minded MoT bureaucrats think they can solve with building more highways and have advised the provincial government of this. The provincial Liberal government (as with the NDP before) see highway and bridge projects, as well as subways, as election gimmicks to get reelected, so they demand great bridge schemes as legacies to their public spending.
The sad fact is that new highways and bridges, increases road traffic, which leads to more traffic chaos and gridlock.
The BC Liberals penchant for subways and , new highways and massive new bridges, is leading the Lower mainland to the highway of hell!
What Scarboroughai??i??s subway means for taxpayers: James
his one project will add more than $40 a year to each property tax bill for 30 years, on top of regular increases, putting the ai???freeai??? subways lie to rest forever. And what of the cityai??i??s other dire transit needs?
By: Royson James City Columnist, Published on Fri Oct 11 2013
If finding a billion dollars for subways is as simple as increasing property taxes by half a percentage point for three straight years, why the hand-wringing and fuss? Why not just hike property taxes 5 per cent, collect $10 billion instead, and build all the subways the people want?
Alas, nothing is ever that simple ai??i?? especially when the explanation is entangled in a matrix of math and tax. And politics.
Council voted 24-20 to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway northeast from the Kennedy station to McCowan and Sheppard. Three stops. Cost: an estimated $3.56 billion by the time it opens in 2023.
Who pays what? For openers, the amount youai??i??ve been hearing is $2.5 billion, with $1.48 billion from the province. But letai??i??s look forward. As such, the contribution numbers ai??i?? all inflated to reflect the $3.56 billion costs ai??i?? will be:
Province, $2 billion; federal government, $660 million; Toronto, $910 million (including $85 million ai???sunk costsai??? of stopping the planned LRT ai??i?? in other words, money flushed down the drain).
Preliminary studies begin next year and include an environmental assessment. Digging should start in 2018, if we are lucky.
Queenai??i??s Parkai??i??s money is to begin flowing 2018 at the earliest. In addition, the money is not locked into a trust fund (as was done with funds to extend the Spadina subway up to Vaughan) so it is vulnerable to cancellation from a new provincial government.
The federal amount comes from a future New Building Canada Fund that is not yet open to applications. Toronto is being promised an amount, in advance, should it meet the conditions. Of course, this means that without debate or due consideration, council is placing a highest priority on this project ai??i?? ahead of what might come later and without comparison to other needs.
The $660 million is about half of what Toronto might expect from the federal fund between 2015 and 2023. All the cityai??i??s other project needs ai??i?? from transit to housing or otherwise ai??i?? must fall in line and compete for the remaining $660 million. Torontoai??i??s housing repair backlog alone would consume that.
Mayor Rob Ford has adamantly maintained no tax dollars would be needed for subways. In fact, almost every penny of this subway is from tax revenues. Torontoai??i??s contribution ai??i?? the 1.6 per cent property tax hike youai??i??ve heard about ai??i?? bears some unpacking.
Toronto will use two tools to pay its share. Higher development charges for projects near the line are expected to net $165 million; the city will borrow the remaining $745 million and pay it back with the property tax surcharge, which delivers about $38 million a year.
The average Toronto homeowner will pay an extra $12.66 in 2014, another increase of $12.72 in 2015 and $15.34 more in 2016. That means todayai??i??s average bill of $2,532 will jump to $2,572.72 in three years ai??i?? a hike of $40.72 for the subway. Then, this new amount will stay on your bill for 30 years, delivering annual amounts the city will use to pay back the loan of $745 million.
This increase of $40.72 is in addition to the regular tax hike for city services. Before the subway surcharge was approved, Mayor Ford had instructed budget chief Frank DiGiorgio to target a hike of about 1.75 per cent this year for such regular services. DiGiorgio told council this week that such a 1.75 per cent must include the .5 per cent for the subway. That would mean service cuts to make room for the subway tax, he said.
To explain the tradeoffs and impact of that move would consume an entire column. Will city council agree? Will they tap reserves and hide the impact? Cue the fight.
This we know: The Scarborough subway tax will increase the cityai??i??s debt load and take up room for huge capital projects facing Toronto. These include $2.5 billion for TTC maintenance and vehicle replacement; $750 million for housing repair backlog; and new transit projects being studied now.
If city ratepayers choke on this, imagine the reaction to unfunded billions more for subways the mayor wants on Sheppard and Finch; plus what the TTC says is its priority ai??i?? a relief line to take pressure off the Yonge-University subway.
At least, you know what to do the next time a politician promises you subways for free, and claims the money will come from the private sector.
Royson James usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email:
rjames@thestar.ca
http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/10/11/what_scarboroughs_subway_means_for_taxpayers_james.html
Let me guess, the new subway in Toronto will banish road congestion, just as the new sky train line in Vancouver will. Nope, not a chance, it will do the complete opposite.
As difficult as it might be for some “transit experts” (Gordon Price and Geoff Meggs in Vancouver come to mind) to understand, subways and sky trains which are regional transit schemes are the root cause of road congestion and the out of control transit costs. They encourage people to live far from work or school and to travel great distances on “fast” and very expensive transit. Fast transit creates satellite communities – in Metro Vancouver, the satellite communities to Vancouver are Surrey, Richmond, Delta… Burnaby.
At the same time, sky train lines and subway lines with distantly spaced stations are too user unfriendly to appeal to drivers living in Richmond, for instance – Richmond roads are chop full of BMWs and the roads are stuffed. Major businesses are setting up in Vancouver and avoiding Richmond which has “poor local” transit.
This is repeated wherever you have sky train lines in Metro Vancouver – major businesses are setting up shop in Vancouver and avoiding the outskirts. In Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond… Delta – the roads are stuffed because the local transit sucks and sky train is for long distance commuters rather than the majority of commuters who are short distance commuters. So, what’s the answer?
You got it, build transit for the masses who only commute short distances – build LRT and tram lines which will encourage major businesses to set up shop in Surrey, Richmond, Delta… Burnaby for more drivers to make shorter trips (reducing the cost of providing transit) and to use transit. Sky train and subways are stupid transit schemes by stupid people who are throwing money away on “fast transit” to make road congestion worse and worse.
I do have 1 problem with the cost comparsion’s for the subways. These are really apple and orange comparisons due to the fact that, both the Downtown Relief Line and the Yonge Extension have greatly enhanced costs over the last 2 subway extensions due to several factors.
1. Both DRL and the Yonge extension will require 1 new massive yard or 2 smaller new yards where Sheppard and the Vaughn (York Region) extension did not.
2. The DRL and the Yonge Extension will require an enormous purchase of new service trains and equipment where as the existing fleet could cover the last 2 extensions. The TTC tends to make in shop as many of the service vehicles as possible themselves. Usually the projects come from converted retired subway cars or surplus railway cars, this time that will not be possible.
3. Both the DRL and Yonge Extension will require an expensive upgrade of the traffic control centre last updated when the Sheppard Line was built.
4. Both the DRL and the Yonge Extension will require the purchase of new trains again at great cost where the existing fleet had enough because the needed trains had already been planned for ahead of time and pre purchased.
5. The costs for the DRL and Yonge Extension also include planning (EA’s and public meetings) and legal issues (purchasing of non conforming properties) where Sheppard and Vaughn are just construction.
What is relevant is what will be the cost of a Broadway subway?
The public did not know the real cost of the Vancouver to New Westminster Expo Line until 1989, when the late Des Turner embarrassed the provincial government into releasing it. The direct cost was in the neighbourhood of $899,000.00 or about $100.000 more than the proposed Vancouver to the much longer Richmond/Lougheed Mall/Whalley LRT.
Listening to the government, the $2 billion Broadway subway will terminate at Arbutus, 6.5 km away from UBC, which would increase costs considerably. Then there is the damned question of Capacity. To increase capacity, the station platforms must be extended on the entire SkyTrain mini-metro system, a cost which I have been told would exceed $1 billion in today’s numbers.
I know that Bombardier have added a MK. 2 coach to increase capacity, but that will now involve selective door opening or SDO, as the 5 car set of MK. 2 stock will be longer than the present station platforms. some local SkyTrain types are trying to pass off these cars as ‘articulated’ but they are not.
So, in a sense, the apples and oranges comparisons of Toronto’s subway schemes, may indicate, that all is not what it seems and the bargain basement sale price of a $2.5 billion subway under Broadway, maybe another TransLink subway “white elephant’ (a la the Canada Line) vastly over sold and grossly costly for what it will do.
Sadly, the more it costs the better for the Provincial Government. They can boast of how much money they put into transit. Few outside the blogsphere will bother asking whether the money was well spent and simply accept that any money for transit is a good thing and by extension more money must be better.
Bus lanes that cost millions rather than billions just aren’t sexy enough for our photo-op obsessed politicians determined to build monuments to their “greatness”.
I don’t have the exact measurements of a 5-car Mark II train, but my rough calculations indicate that only the noses of the trains would be beyond the platforms and that all doors will be accessible. And I sincerely hope Broadway SkyTrain, if built, stops at Arbutus because peak hour, peak direction travel to/from UBC has no room left to grow. Dramatically increasing capacity for stagnant demand is the same idiocy we’re seeing in the Massey bridge proposal.
In my opinion, the need for long-distance travel (Surrey to Vancouver and vice versa) has ended. What we need now is short-distance travel modes, which includes light rail. If there is a huge need for long distance travel, express light rail lines or subways (if the justifiable ridership is high enough) can be used. Right now, constructing a Broadway subway would miss out communities east of Commercial, which need transit more. So priorities have shifted to light rail until time has come.