Coun. Gord Perks called the SmartTrack plan a failure. Here's why

SmartTrack, a two-part transit plan, was a centrepiece of Mayor John Tory's 2014 campaign. The plan consists ofadding more stations along existing GO rail corridorsand building an extension on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, called the Eglinton West LRT.

On Monday, the city released a report containing proposalsforpaying for the project during a presentation at city hall.Afterward,Parkdale-High Park Coun.Gord Perks described what he heardas a "failure" for Tory.Perks spoke with Metro Morning on Tuesday about his concerns.

• 'Other revenue streams' beyond property-tax hike possible for SmartTrack, Tory says

The SmartTrack plan we're seeing today looks nothing like what was promised

Perks said the plan the city has been presented with bears little resemblance to Tory's original promise in 2014 a 22-stop surface line that would stretch 53 kilometres.

Instead, SmartTrack will add six stations to GO rail corridors, which Perks argues is an add-on to a pre-existing provincial plan to improve GO Transit (called the Regional Express Rail program) rather than a unique project.

"Essentially, what we're getting is the provincial plan, and we're paying a bunch of money to get the six stations in the City of Toronto," he said.

It's going to cost more and take longer to build than expected

Toronto's share in the construction of the six SmartTrack stations and the Eglinton West LRT would be about $2 billion, but Perks said the true cost of the project is not yet known.

"The proposal in front of us does not include the price of financing or of risk mitigation," he said. "Those two things by themselves will increase the price by about 30 per cent."

He's also disappointed by the adjusted time frame for the project. In 2014, Tory said SmartTrack would take seven years. Monday's report shows that construction won't even start for at least six years.

Footing the bill will hurt the city

Perks said he's concerned about where Toronto will get the money from.

Tory had pledged during his mayoral campaign that he would not raise property taxes to build SmartTrack, but the city plan revealed Monday suggests a hike in property taxes by at least 2.1 per cent.

The city plan also depends on the federal government, the Greater Toronto Airport Authorityand the government of Mississauga chipping in substantial amounts of cash, and would look to other revenue streams like development charges.

"I hope it doesn't mean cutting services elsewhere in the city or selling off part of Toronto Hydro," Perks said.

"I'm concerned that some of our existing problems will be moved way back so we can pay for the mayor's signature promise up to the front of the line."

City lost out to the province in negotiations

The Ontario government has agreed to pay $3.7 billion for infrastructure that will support SmartTrack, an agreement that Tory welcomed, calling it a "key step" in the direction of bringing the new transit network to life.

But Perks thinks the citymight have lost more than itgained in negotiations with the province, pointing to the city's pledge to foot the bill for a variety of transit costs, including payments towardGO train construction that the city had opted out of in 2015.

"We're paying them money for general GO construction, $60 million. We're paying for the operating costs of the EglintonCrosstown and any other light-rail lines that the province builds," he said, pointing out that the province had originally signed an agreement with Toronto promising that it wouldpay for the maintenance and operation of light-rail lines.

Transit priorities are all wrong

When SmartTrack was pitched, Tory's team described it as a solution to subway crowding that would come together faster than a tunnelled downtown relief subway line.

But Perks said a new underground subway line shouldn't be pushed to the back of the priority queueso easily.

"We've never sat down and said what is the most important thing to do, what moves the most people for the least money," he said. "We started to do that and came up with the answer that it should be the downtown relief line."