Outgoing Mayor David Miller said Thursday that the cupboard is bare for anyone hoping to build new subways in Toronto.
"There's been a divergence of views about transit," he said in a speech to the Toronto Rotary Club.
"But the truth is, we have no money for subways, so subways won't get built. Ultimately, it's up to the people we've elected."
Miller's remarks came three days after the stunning victory of mayor-elect Rob Ford, who campaigned on abandoning the Transit City approach of light rail transit championed by Miller in favour of more subways.
Ford voted against Transit City, which would establish a 120-kilometre network of light-rail transit, when the $6-billion plan came before council in 2007.
Ford said Wednesday he wants to discuss moving Transit City funding with Premier Dalton McGuinty to see whether it can be shifted to accommodate his subway plan.
McGuinty has said that he is willing to listen to any plan put forward that has the approval of Toronto's 44-member city council.
The Globe and Mail estimated that more than 83 per cent of voters supported a candidate who favoured expanding the city's subways.
But subways cost at least six times more per kilometre to build than light-rail transit.
The provincial Big Move plan for the GTA only anticipates the Yonge subway line being extended north into Richmond Hill and for the Spadina line to be extended north into Vaughan. That latter project is under construction.
Construction has begun on the Sheppard LRT and tunnel boring machines have been ordered for the Eglinton Avenue line's underground portion.
The Ford subway plan would see the Sheppard subway line extended west to Downsview subway station and eastward to the Scarborough Town Centre. The Bloor-Danforth line would extend north from Kennedy station to the Scarborough Town Centre.
Ford has put the cost of his subway plan at $4 billion, with $3.7 billion coming from the province. Critics have said $700 million of that money is earmarked for bus rapid transit in York region.
No comment
Miller wouldn’t comment on the election result. When pushed by reporters, Miller – whose term ends on Nov. 30 – said he had a dentist’s appointment.
He told his Rotary Club audience that it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to speak about the election’s result.
It isn’t known yet when Miller will be meeting with his successor.
The mayor did highlight some of the city’s recent successes, such as the amount of downtown construction.
One challenge for the city in the coming years will be the growing gap between the successful and the “priority” neighbourhoods, he said, adding rapid transit would add to economic opportunity for people living in those priority neighbourhoods.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Janice Golding
