The federal budget falls short in terms of providing Canada's largest city with permanent sustained transit funding, Toronto Mayor David Miller said on Tuesday.
"It's a missed opportunity to use the significant federal surplus to invest in the economic success of Canada, Toronto and the Toronto region," Miller told reporters after Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered his budget.
"Although there is some money for public transit from the surplus ... it's quite clear there's no funding for the MoveOntario 2020 program or Toronto's Transit City, which was announced last year and which the province has already agreed to fund."
MoveOntario 2020 is the province's plan to spend $17.5 billon on public transit through 2020, While Transit City is Toronto's initiative for a network of dedicated light rail transit lines across the city.
The federal government has committed $500 million for public transit infrastructure for Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. In Toronto, however, the money has been allocated for the re-establishment of a rail link from Toronto's Union Station to the City of Peterborough.
While the rail link is important, it is not a priority for Toronto, TTC chairman Adam Giambrone said on Tuesday.
"We just announced new service additions. They will mean 130 new buses on the road," he said.
"One-hundred-thirty multiplied by $750,000 -- which is the cost of one bus -- comes out to about $90 to $95 million just to pay for the buses for these service additions."
Miller also said the federal budget was a "missed opportunity" to act on climate change. He said Toronto has been moving forward with global warming initiatives without waiting for funding or partnerships from the federal government.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Alicia Kay-Markson
