Toronto needs to rethink transit construction, Mayor John Tory says
The mayor says the city needs to look to private sector to build transit, citing the TTC and Toronto's abysmal failure to bring projects in on time and on budget.
By: Tess Kalinowski Transportation reporter, Published on Mon Nov 16 2015
Mayor John Tory has made the case for changing the way Toronto builds transit. Instead of expensive, customized infrastructure, it's time to look at “off-the-shelf” solutions and public-private partnerships (P3) such as the one the province is using to build the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
Tory cited the city's and the TTC's record of delivering projects late and overbudget in a speech to the Toronto Region Board of Trade's Transit Summit on Monday.
“Look no further than the (Spadina) subway extension,” he told the business group.
What should be “a source of great excitement” is wildly overbudget by hundreds of millions of dollars, and years over deadline.
The TTC is not alone, he said, adding that the Union Station and Nathan Phillips Square renovations have suffered similar failures.
Tory contrasted that with his recent visit to the Canary Wharf Crossrail station in London. It was built by the private sector ahead of schedule and about $300 million under budget, he said.
“Managing major construction projects is not our core business. Government doesn't have the full range of skills,” he told a Toronto Region Board of Trade Transit Summit on Monday.
That doesn't mean that all city projects will be done as P3s, he said.
“There is no ideological base to this. It is simply me saying we will definitely look at this model for all projects to see if it's appropriate in terms of restoring an environment in which we can get things done on time and on budget and restore public confidence and, actually get the transit built,” he said.
Traditionally governments dictate the fine details of what a transit project or station should look like, right down to the linoleum on the floor, rather than specifying that the floor needs to be cleaned and maintained.
When you leave it to the private sector in a P3, where a private company has to maintain that floor, they may look at something more expensive up front but has a longer life cycle, aid Bert Clark, head of Infrastructure Ontario, the provincial agency in charge of P3s.
“Under the traditional model the public sector designs it, they put it out to tender and the guy with the cheapest bid wins. From that point the private sector is trying to figure out how to make money so they are trying to build the thing even cheaper than what they bid. That goes straight to their profit margin. Under the (P3) model the private sector is responsible for maintaining that asset for 30 years. If they bid cheap and build cheap and the asset doesn't last it's on their dime. They're the ones that are going to need to be replacing things more quickly than they thought,” he said.
Former city manager Joe Pennachetti told another session at the event that, while the TTC has the capacity for operating and maintaining the current system, the expertise for expanding transit resides in the private sector.
He suggested that the Scarborough subway extension could be the city's first P3 project and he urged politicians not to be overly ambitious in their vision of the project.
“Please don't come back with scope changes to make a station a (architect Frank) Ghery design,” he said.
Speaking with reporters after his speech, the mayor said he remains firmly committed to building his SmartTrack plan to put more city commuters on trains on the Kitchener and Stouffville GO tracks.
But he vehemently denied suggestions that his office or the city were hiding a report that puts a high cost of a SmartTrack spur connecting the Mount Dennis station on the Eglinton Crosstown with the airport employment hub.
That report is not finished, said Tory.
“I've never seen a word of it, not a draft, not a page, not an extract — nothing. When the work is finished the reports will be made public in the normal manner and we'll have a discussion,” he said.
“I have no hint yet as to what it is they're going to report,” said Tory.
“SmartTrack and the utilization of existing rail corridors through the city of Toronto with local stops is going to be done. If we have to make some adjustments or we have to take account of things that differ in terms of cost or engineering considerations, we'll have that discussion when the reports are submitted.”
from the star:
Toronto needs to rethink transit construction, Mayor John Tory says | Toronto Star
The mayor says the city needs to look to private sector to build transit, citing the TTC and Toronto's abysmal failure to bring projects in on time and on budget.
By: Tess Kalinowski Transportation reporter, Published on Mon Nov 16 2015
Mayor John Tory has made the case for changing the way Toronto builds transit. Instead of expensive, customized infrastructure, it's time to look at “off-the-shelf” solutions and public-private partnerships (P3) such as the one the province is using to build the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
Tory cited the city's and the TTC's record of delivering projects late and overbudget in a speech to the Toronto Region Board of Trade's Transit Summit on Monday.
“Look no further than the (Spadina) subway extension,” he told the business group.
What should be “a source of great excitement” is wildly overbudget by hundreds of millions of dollars, and years over deadline.
The TTC is not alone, he said, adding that the Union Station and Nathan Phillips Square renovations have suffered similar failures.
Tory contrasted that with his recent visit to the Canary Wharf Crossrail station in London. It was built by the private sector ahead of schedule and about $300 million under budget, he said.
“Managing major construction projects is not our core business. Government doesn't have the full range of skills,” he told a Toronto Region Board of Trade Transit Summit on Monday.
That doesn't mean that all city projects will be done as P3s, he said.
“There is no ideological base to this. It is simply me saying we will definitely look at this model for all projects to see if it's appropriate in terms of restoring an environment in which we can get things done on time and on budget and restore public confidence and, actually get the transit built,” he said.
Traditionally governments dictate the fine details of what a transit project or station should look like, right down to the linoleum on the floor, rather than specifying that the floor needs to be cleaned and maintained.
When you leave it to the private sector in a P3, where a private company has to maintain that floor, they may look at something more expensive up front but has a longer life cycle, aid Bert Clark, head of Infrastructure Ontario, the provincial agency in charge of P3s.
“Under the traditional model the public sector designs it, they put it out to tender and the guy with the cheapest bid wins. From that point the private sector is trying to figure out how to make money so they are trying to build the thing even cheaper than what they bid. That goes straight to their profit margin. Under the (P3) model the private sector is responsible for maintaining that asset for 30 years. If they bid cheap and build cheap and the asset doesn't last it's on their dime. They're the ones that are going to need to be replacing things more quickly than they thought,” he said.
Former city manager Joe Pennachetti told another session at the event that, while the TTC has the capacity for operating and maintaining the current system, the expertise for expanding transit resides in the private sector.
He suggested that the Scarborough subway extension could be the city's first P3 project and he urged politicians not to be overly ambitious in their vision of the project.
“Please don't come back with scope changes to make a station a (architect Frank) Ghery design,” he said.
Speaking with reporters after his speech, the mayor said he remains firmly committed to building his SmartTrack plan to put more city commuters on trains on the Kitchener and Stouffville GO tracks.
But he vehemently denied suggestions that his office or the city were hiding a report that puts a high cost of a SmartTrack spur connecting the Mount Dennis station on the Eglinton Crosstown with the airport employment hub.
That report is not finished, said Tory.
“I've never seen a word of it, not a draft, not a page, not an extract — nothing. When the work is finished the reports will be made public in the normal manner and we'll have a discussion,” he said.
“I have no hint yet as to what it is they're going to report,” said Tory.
“SmartTrack and the utilization of existing rail corridors through the city of Toronto with local stops is going to be done. If we have to make some adjustments or we have to take account of things that differ in terms of cost or engineering considerations, we'll have that discussion when the reports are submitted.”
from the star:
Toronto needs to rethink transit construction, Mayor John Tory says | Toronto Star
