Much was made of the federal / provincial / municipal joint announcement of $1 billion for the TTC, but less was made of the fine print. The money is spread over five years, much of it earmarked for special projects, and the cash is to come out of three wallets. Since Toronto is already on the hook for the bulk of the TTC’s capital spending, the province and the feds really only came through with only $700 million. Martin himself is only on the hook for $70 million per year; far less than a billion.

The municipal politicians speaking at the 50th anniversary festivities welcomed the new money, but stressed that they hoped that this represented a down payment. The good news is that Premier McGuinty came through the next day with a strong indicator that this money was indeed a down payment when he announced an immediate transfusion of $90 million in funds to the TTC, no strings attached. The money should be enough to prevent a fare increase, but he said that the TTC was not obligated to keep fares down. The TTC could use this money and conceivably raise fares, if it decided to significantly improve service as part of its Ridership Growth Plan.

Dalton McGuinty’s first budget is expected in five weeks, and the transfer of the gas tax is still on the table (although it will likely be phased in). McGuinty has also talked about the need to pay the gas tax out on a per-rider basis, which is of great benefit to the TTC. All in all, although the skies are still cloudy for the TTC, the forecast is looking brighter.

Andrew Spicer was at the fiftieth anniversary celebrations. He ably lays out the flaws and the benefits of the $1 billion announcement and a good take on the City of Toronto’s current budget situation.