SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
November 29, 2022 09:00AM
  • Nov/29/22 11:40:00 a.m.

Thank you to the amazing member from Niagara West, who works tirelessly for his constituents.

He brings up a very good point, because it’s not just about building rapid transit, which this government is doing—$61 billion to expand the grid, a spiderweb of transit; it’s also about making sure that riders have a more convenient experience throughout the GTA—

Interjection: Yes, and doubling the cost of the Ontario Line.

Speaker, the member asked a very valid question about credit card tap. The rest of the world seems to have this ability to tap with your credit card and go onto your transit system. It’s very convenient. It makes life easier, especially when there are lineups at the Presto kiosk.

Since August, 300,000 riders have been able to tap their credit cards on GO, Brampton Transit, MiWay and Oakville Transit, and that’s working—including your smart device, which is important to note, because a lot of people have that ability on their technology. It’s coming to the rest of the GTHA next year, and that includes the great people of 905 and in that member’s riding.

What the member is highlighting here is that it’s about choice. It’s not just about digital; it’s about having the ability to pay by different means and giving the riders of this great province the ability to have that option. That’s exactly what we’re doing.

Again, it’s interesting to hear that the Liberals are still vocal on this issue, because under their watch, they wasted $470 million in cost overruns and millions more on faulty Presto machines. They not only didn’t build transit; when they did, they got it wrong.

Speaker, this government believes in doing things differently. For every dollar we’re investing in our transportation network, $3 is going to invest in transit. This is the only government that’s going to get it done for commuters in this province.

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