FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 23, 2023

ONTARIO 2023 PROVINCIAL BUDGET LEAVES TRANSIT RIDERS STILL WAITING FOR THE BUS!

Don’t be fooled by what this Ontario Government is selling in this budget announcement.  It’s all smoke and mirrors.  What they announced may sound good to most people on the surface – but look a little closer you will understand that this budget does nothing for the people of Ontario who are struggling to survive and in need of some relief.  

This budget is all about building more business with private corporate partners. Transit ridership is down approximately 30% from pre-pandemic levels, and recent violence is keeping some riders from returning to transit. Lower ridership leads to service cuts, fare increases, and longer wait times – and less revenue leads to more service cuts – the death spiral. 

So the government announced a $70.5 BN investment in Transit over the next decade.  Sounds good right? People will believe the Government is saving Transit – guess again. Those funds will not eliminate service cuts, and won’t make service less expensive for struggling families.  The funds are to build shiny new infrastructure like the LRT which is already 11 years in the making with no end in sight.  The only ones who will benefit from this $70.5 BN are the private corporations – and we taxpayers will foot the bill. 

“The proposed increase of $ 70.5 billion to transit will not deliver safe, reliable, affordable and accessible transit, but rather help pay for the cost overruns of poor decisions on current failed LRT expansions in Ontario by this government,” said John Di Nino, ATU Canada President.

“With increasing fares, reduced service levels, and low ridership, the death spiral of transit will have an immanent fate of collapse,” concluded Di Nino.

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Media Contact:

Rose Carusone
416-949-8641
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