Apparently, funding transit is more complicated than just asking people to open their wallets

The Toronto Star’s Royson James appears to have pinpointed Torontonians’ reluctance to fork over much-needed cash for improved transit: nobody can convince them that their money will be well spent. To his point, politicians haven’t exactly reassured citizens that money from road tolls or gas taxes will go toward a shiny new transit project: Mike Harris stopped the Eglinton subway in its tracks and Mayor Rob Ford killed Transit City. Of course, other problems might be more easily remedied. James points out that revenues from taxes and tolls often disappear into the larger city pot. To this we say it’s time to look at earmarking specific taxes for specific projects. Toronto wouldn’t be the first to give that idea a whirl. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »