GGH Transportation and Growth Plan

[ijmorlan]

Just tossing this out there as an option: what would it take for various entrepreneurs in the area to band together to finance something like ION Phase 2 (among other projects)?  Is it even possible under our current funding models?

As a model from the past, the Berlin/Kitchener and Waterloo Street Railway operated as a private company between 1888 and 1907 before it was taken over by Berlin.  While I know that more recent Canadian PPP transit projects haven't always worked (looking at you Ottawa and Crosstown!), what would it take to inspire local (non-government) transit investment without waiting for the upper levels of government to pitch in?

Transit operated as private companies before private automobiles running on publicly funded (i.e., free at the point of use) roads were available. If we started charging the full cost of road maintenance and construction to users of the roads (never mind how — this is a thought experiment), then it might be possible for public transit to be profitable again.

The problem is not borrowing a bunch of money. Government, especially the provincial and especially especially the federal government, can borrow huge amounts of money cheaply. The issue is that public transit, like roads that are free at the point of use, requires a massive ongoing subsidy in order to work. The positive externalities of good public transit could not be captured by a private owner.