Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Chairman Brian Ashton says the 2008 Olympics “would be our salvation. If the Olympics are given to Toronto, the province would have no choice but to bail back into transit and our needs would be taken care of”.
Ashton said the Games provide the only guarantee that the TTC will not steadily decline over the coming years. The system needs $50 million annually in capital funding from the government over the next five years to avoid cutting bus and subway services.
Meanwhile, Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman said Ashton committed an evil act by trying to further pet projects at the expense of the city’s Olympic bid.
Mayor Lastman was upset that Ashton had said the TTC does not receive enough money to pay for the capital purchases necessary to upgrade the transit system in time for the Olympics.
Lastman said a newspaper article with Ashton’s comments “is already being handed out in Lausanne and that is bad, that’s evil”. The Mayor was referring to the meeting of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations this week in Switzerland.
Ashton said, “if transit in Toronto is an Ashton pet project, I’m proud of it. This wasn’t a shot against the Olympics, in fact the Olympics would be a salvation for transit.
