The Toronto Transit Commission is a disaster. On this, there can be little disagreement, even from the TTC itself.
In recent months, it has caused mass transit chaos and delays by shutting down all or part of its subway Line 1 for extended periods during the morning rush hour. In one particularly bad stretch in December, the commission’s interim CEO apologized for “another difficult day for TTC customers. We know thousands of customers were inconvenienced.”
According to Jamaal Myers, TTC chair and Toronto city councillor, the lengthy and frequent delays “disrupt lives, affect livelihoods, cause anxiety and erode public trust.” To help prevent future morning commute meltdowns, the TTC board instructed staff to investigate the cause of the recent delays and come up with better ways to mitigate their negative impacts when they occur.
Yet even if the TTC can reduce the incidence of mass unplanned delays during rush hour, transit riders still have strong reasons for dissatisfaction. The TTC is planning an astounding 38 full weekend closures on parts of its subway line in 2025 to accommodate repairs, track work and other projects.
Moreover, as blogTO reports, “If the full weekend closures weren’t enough of an inconvenience, the TTC also plans a whopping 217 early closures this year. Adding up weekday and weekend closures, there will be disruption on the TTC subway network for 293 of the 365 days this year, or over 80% of 2025.”
With numbers like these, the TTC should stop announcing when the subway line is delayed or will be closed. It might be easier for everybody to just assume there’s a problem with the subway unless the TTC announces otherwise.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Other cities have far better transit systems, and many have one thing in common — a degree of privatization. One of the most famous examples is the privatization of Japanese National Railways in 1987, which resulted in stronger finances, improved operational efficiency, increased ridership and significantly fewer accidents.
Another example: Hong Kong, where MTR Corporation operates public transit and develops property. MTR Corporation is about three-quarters government-owned, but the remaining one-quarter of shares are privately owned and traded on the stock exchange, so MTR Corporation operates more like a private business and is more independent from government than the TTC or similar agencies.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
Another major difference between MTR Corporation and the TTC is that while the TTC needs significant taxpayer support and revenue generation, MTR Corporation is profitable. And in addition to stronger finances, MTR Corporation also performs far better than the TTC. The trains in Hong Kong run on schedule 99.9% of the time.
Other cities have significantly improved the on-time performance of their trains by turning management over to MTR. For example, after MTR took control, on-time performance for the London Overground rose from 88.4% to 96.7% and at Melbourne Metro, on-time performance rose from 84.6% to 93.7%. Studies from Boston and elsewhere have demonstrated the benefits to the cost and quality of transit when private involvement is increased and government control is decreased.
Toronto could benefit from increased private involvement in the transit system. TTC riders — and the city’s taxpayers — need a break.
— Matthew Lau is an adjunct scholar with the Fraser Institute