Mayor John Tory tours future York University subway station to push road tolls

Toronto Mayor John Tory toured the TTC's nearly completed York University subway station on Monday as part of his campaign to promote road tolls to fund transit projects.

Tory donned a hard hat, safety goggles, a safety vest and gloves. He walked along the tracks, talked to construction workers, then spoke to reporters above ground about his plans to put tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway.

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"I believe that a toll system is the fairest way to go because it allows us to build the transit and roads we need in order to fix the traffic with the least amount of impact on our residents," he said. 

"A reasonable toll of $2 (per vehicle) on the DVP and the Gardiner would yield about $200 million a year exclusively and only for transit and infrastructure to fix traffic."

The York University subway station, part of the Toronto-York Spadina subway extension project, is 85 per cent completed. Testing with TTC trains is expected to begin next spring.

"We need to recognize that building transit is the best way to fix traffic," Tory said. "And we need to remind ourselves that transit is not free."

Tory noted it will be first TTC subway station to open in 14 years when the public is allowed inside in December 2017.

"Fourteen years and not one new transit station," he said. "No wonder traffic is a mess."

Tory told reporters that Toronto's transit network has not kept pace with the growth of its population and with development.

"Toronto has grown," he said. "Our transit map has not grown. Our subway cars are jammed. Our streetcars are packed and our overall transit network is insufficient to get people to and from where they want to go.

"I believe it is time to build."

Tory said road tolls are a reasonable way to pay for needed transit infrastructure. He said other options to raise money, such as selling Toronto Hydro, reintroducing a vehicle registration tax, or implementing major property tax increases, are not as reasonable.

"We must all play a role in contributing to the upkeep and building more transit so that the nightmarish traffic we experience today can be a thing of the past."

Tory's executive committee will consider the idea of road tolls at a meeting this week. 

The estimated cost of the Toronto-York Spadina subway extension project is $3.2 billion. 

The TTC says there will be six stations as part of the Toronto-York Spadina subway extension project. They are: Finch West, York University, Pioneer Village, Highway 407, Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, and Downsview Park.