Scarborough activists file auditor general complaint over transit spending
Written by: Ben Spurr
A group of activists is asking the Ontario auditor general to probe what they claim is “the use of non-evidence-based decision-making” in the approval of expensive Toronto-area transit projects.
Scarborough Transit Action filed a request with Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk on Wednesday morning requesting that her office investigate the planned construction of the Kirby and Lawrence East GO Transit stations, as well as the Scarborough subway extension.
“The auditor general has a responsibility to ensure that there is a good value for money, and we feel that this is very bad value for money,” Moya Beall, a spokesperson for the group, said in an interview Tuesday.
The auditor general is tasked with overseeing provincial spending and reporting any misuse of public funds. “We will give the request from Scarborough TransitAction serious consideration, as we do all citizen submissions,” said spokesperson Christine Pedias.
As the Star has previously reported, Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency for the GTHA, approved the two new GO Transit stations in June 2016 as part of its regional express rail expansion despite reports that showed they would be a drain on the transit network.
Business case analyses commissioned by Metrolinx found that both the Kirby station in Vaughan and the Lawrence East stop in Scarborough would attract few riders, and would actually lead to a decrease in ridership on the GO network because adding the additional stations would increase travel time for other passengers.
The resulting uptick in car use would lead to an additional 869.8 million kilometres driven on the region’s roads over the next 60 years, along with increased congestion and pollution, and millions of dollars in foregone transit revenue, the analyses found.
The Kirby stop would cost $125.8 million to build and operate over 60 years, while the Lawrence East station was projected to cost $45.8 million.
As the Star reported in June, an internal report prepared for Metrolinx by a consultant but that the agency never made public recommended that neither Lawrence East nor Kirby be approved, and determined they should not be considered for the next 10 years.
An advance copy of Scarborough Transit Action’s request to the auditor general that was provided to the Star claims Metrolinx officials “ignored the business-case analysis” in what the group described as a “political overruling” of the evidence.
The request notes that Kirby station is in the riding of Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, while Lawrence East is a part of Mayor John Tory’s SmartTrack plan.
Del Duca and Tory have denied doing anything to improperly exert influence over the approval process.
The complaint also asks Lysyk’s office to “investigate whether a comprehensive analysis” should be carried out to compare the one-stop, $3.35-billion Scarborough subway extension that has been approved by council to a 24-stop LRT network proposed for the same area.
“This analysis would ensure that the contribution from the provincial government provides Ontario taxpayers with the best value for money,” the complaint reads.
The activist group has already filed a complaint with the city’s auditor general about a misleading briefing note about the Scarborough subway project authored by the TTC. The group is awaiting a report.