The NDP has pledged to fund half the operating costs of transit systems across the province, and leader Andrea Horwath says Toronto’s downtown relief line will be a priority.

Uploading the transit costs would amount to $330 million for Toronto’s TTC and Wheel-Trans, said Horwath, speaking to reporters outside the Bathurst subway station Thursday morning alongside Toronto councillors Mike Layton and Joe Cressy, among others.

“People are still having a very stressful day trying to utilize the TTC to get them to and from where they need to go,” she said, accusing the Liberals of failing over the past 15 years to fix the transit system.

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She also said that when PC Leader Doug Ford was a city councillor, he voted in favour of reducing bus services and bumping up fares.

“I have heard stories of people who have given up — totally given up — on the TTC because they can’t reliably get to work on time … you can’t be a world-class city and not have reliable access transit that’s affordable to the people who live here.”

She also said she supports the Scarborough subway, and will work with municipalities on their transit priorities.

In Toronto, she added, “my priority will be to get that downtown relief line running … getting some shovels in the ground” for the subway project to help ease congestion on the other lines.

Horwath also opposes road tolls — which she called flat taxes — because they are unaffordable for lower-income families.

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Liberal candidate Kathryn McGarry, who served as transportation minister, slammed the NDP transit plans, saying the Liberals “continued to make historic investments in transit and transportation” and that the NDP voted against “billions of dollars for Toronto’s transit needs like the Eglinton Crosstown and Spadina subway extension.”

Following the transit announcement, Horwath was also asked about candidate and incumbent Hamilton-area MPP Paul Miller and said allegations lodged by staff about comments he made are going through a grievance process as they are union members.

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