The provincial government’s contentious plan to take ownership of the TTC subway system would be “quite straightforward” to implement, according to the CEO of Metrolinx.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the agency’s board on Friday, Phil Verster said the new Ontario PC government has asked Metrolinx, the regional transportation agency, to provide advice on its proposal to upload the subway to Queen’s Park.

Verster said he had yet to meet with the special adviser the province appointed last month to chart a course for the plan, but those meetings are being arranged.

“(The province) will decide how to do the TTC upload. Metrolinx will offer advice and support for whatever the recommendations are … We’ll work with government to come up with the best solution,” he said.

As the provincial agency responsible for transportation planning in the GTHA, Metrolinx is the most likely organization to take over the subway, should the province follow through on its proposal.

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While critics of the Conservatives’ plan have argued it would be endlessly complicated to split ownership of the TTC’s highly integrated network of buses, streetcars, and subways, Verster asserted it would be relatively simple.

“This is not difficult to see how this can be done. It’s actually quite straightforward,” he said.

Verster cited the agreement the province and TTC have reached over the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. The province is paying for construction of the $5.3-billion project, but, while the Ontario government will own the line once it opens in 2021, the TTC will operate it.

“It’s exactly the same model that will be required for the TTC upload,” Verster said.

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The CEO, who will mark his one-year anniversary at the agency next month, stressed Metrolinx’s focus remains on its assets. He said he isn’t taking it as a given that it will soon take on Toronto’s subway lines, which have been owned by the TTC since the first stops opened in 1954.

“We’ve got enough that we are busy with now,” he said. He noted that Metrolinx is overseeing a major expansion of GO Transit service and building new LRT lines.

The Conservative government argues uploading the subway would allow the province to take advantage of financing tools not available to the city in order to build transit projects faster and at lower cost.

But the proposal has sparked fierce pushback from the opposition Ontario NDP and city representatives, who warn it will lead to worse and more expensive transit service. In May, council voted overwhelmingly to tell the province control of the transit system should remain under the TTC.

On Friday afternoon, the largest union representing TTC workers released a video opposing the upload plan. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 claims transferring ownership of the subway to the province would pave the way for the Conservative government to privatize work on the transit system. The union also warns the government could charge more to ride the subway.

“Premier Doug Ford’s reckless scheme to upload the TTC subway system from Torontonians will mean higher fares, worse service and less say for riders,” Frank Grimaldi, president of ATU Local 113, said in a statement.

“The TTC belongs to Torontonians — we built it, we paid for it and we own it.”

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The Toronto transit agency has estimated the value of its subway assets, including trains, at $3.9 billion.

Ontario Transportation Minister John Yakabuski announced the appointment of Michael Lindsay as the government’s adviser on the subway-upload plan on Aug. 31.

Lindsay, a former vice-president at Infrastructure Ontario and director at engineering consultant firm Hatch, was given a one-year term, although there is no set date for him to make his recommendations.

Lindsay will lead a panel of up to three experts that will be appointed by the premier. The government has yet to publish terms of reference for the panel’s work.

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