9th Annual Land and Development Conference

Presentation by Leslie Woo Vice President, Policy, Planning and Innovation Metrolinx

May 28, 2013

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Congestion

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The Cost- Environment

Over 500,000 tonnes/year in Greenhouse Gases (GHG) is due to traffic congestion

That means 15% of daily emissions is due to excess traffic congestion.

$6 billion travel costs + lost productivity

These costs will double in the next 30 years if we don’t improve our transportation.

The Cost- Economy

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The Cost- Social Impacts

82 minutes/day average time a driver spends commuting

Average times each person spends commuting could increase to 109 minutes per day in next 25 years.

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Increase the percentage of people living within 2km of rapid transit to 81%

Triple the length of rapid transit service in GTHA to 1,725km

Reduce commute times to an average of 77 minutes per person per day

Decrease Greenhouse Gas emissions from passenger transportation per person by 29%

Toronto Light Rail Transit

Union Station Revitalization Mississauga Bus Rapid

Transit

Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension

The Georgetown South Project

Union Pearson Express

York Region vivaNext Bus Rapidways

Current Projects Underway

Next Wave

How do we fund projects?

• A suite of dedicated tools • A combination of tools and direct government funding • Key role for the private sector • Ability to issue debt and maintain credit ratings • Importance of accountability and transparency

Vancouver

Montreal

Paris

Chicago New York London

Best Practices from Other Jurisdictions

Principles to Guide New Funding

• Dedicated Revenue The public can see exactly what they are paying for and have an assurance that funds are not diverted to other priorities

• Fairness in Costs and Benefits Distributes costs to everyone who benefits, recognizing that we all benefit from transportation infrastructure

• Equity across the Region Ensures that no part of the region is left behind by having all areas pay their fair share and benefit from investment

• Transparency and Accountability Ensures transparency in administering funds and reporting on results

Recommended Investment Tools

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Recommended Investment Tools

Proposed HST Increase

• 1% increase to HST on currently taxable goods and services, generating $1.3B annually, net of a proposed mobility tax credit

• Spreads cost across the entire region, ensuring everyone contributes

• Per capita cost is about $158/year, or about 43 cents/day

• Province may find it administratively easier to implement province-wide; if so, revenue collected outside the GTHA should fund priorities in other parts of Ontario

Regional Fuel and Gasoline Tax

• 5 cent/litre tax applied in GTHA, on top of existing federal and provincial taxes, on fuel and gasoline sales, generating $330M annually

• Road users are major beneficiaries of The Big Move, and tax provides for a contribution from these groups

• Per capita cost is about $21/year or about 6 cents/day

• Some boundary issues are expected, but these are expected to be relatively low in impact

• GTHA average gasoline prices would still be lower than Montreal or Vancouver

Business Parking Levy

• Variable business parking levy on all off-street, non-residential parking, based on current value assessment, averaging 25 cents/day/space

• Business is a major beneficiary and levy provides for a contribution that also has transportation and land use benefits

• Costs are borne by business, although where paid parking is in place, it is likely that costs would be passed on to users

• Since the levy would be variable, higher value locations pay more and lower value locations pay less, resulting in a balance across the region

• Parking levies are in place in Montreal, Sydney and Melbourne

Development Charges

• Development Charges legislation be amended and updated to better fund growth-related transit costs

• Land development is a key beneficiary of The Big Move

• Expected to increase charges by average of 15% and raise $100M annually

• Since development charges vary between municipalities, increases to existing charges would also vary

• Some funds would be retained by municipalities for their own transit projects, while balance would be transferred to Metrolinx for Next Wave projects

• Commonly used in Ontario, and similar to measures used for the Spadina subway extension

Impact on Families

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Average Household $477/year or $1.31/day

Senior (limited driving and takes transit)

$140/year or $0.38/day

Student (does not own a car and uses transit)

$117/year or $0.32/day

Cost of congestion to the average household

$1,619/year or $4.43/day

Cost of Car Ownership $8,000/year or $21.92/day

• 25% of resources for other means of travel – 15% municipal transit

support – 5% improvements to

regional highways – 5% other smaller

projects that support larger transportation initiatives (e.g. walking and cycling paths)

Next Wave Projects

Next Steps

• Board unanimously approved Investment Strategy to be presented to the Province of Ontairo

• Metrolinx reaching out to public and stakeholders to present its recommendations for the Investment Strategy

• Province and municipalities review of Metrolinx Investment Strategy recommendations.

• Metrolinx continues to champion and deliver $16B of committed transportation projects and programs

www.metrolinx.com www.bigmove.ca

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