Public Transit Struggles in London and Toronto

Toronto — 9 August 2015.

A forum to discuss the struggles over public transit in London, England and in Toronto, over P3s, privatization, funding public transit, and posing alternatives, such as reduced fares, free transit and increased accessibility. We are at a turning point in the struggle for public transit, particularly in Toronto. Although we have now won broad recognition of the need to expand public transit, the modes and organizational forms this will take, the fares that will be levied, the funding provisions and the operational practices remain completely unclear. There remains nothing in the way of a national public transit plan in Canada, and Ontario planning is both ad hoc and bent on privatization. There are important strategic lessons to be learned from the experience of London — a system at the forefront of these kinds of battles over the neoliberalization of transit systems. As well, there is a growing national and international free public transit movement as a central means to address global warning and for transit justice to give equal access to mobility.

Moderated by Herman Rosenfeld. Presentations by:

• Kamilla Pietrzyk is an activist with Free Transit Campaign and TTCriders, Toronto
• Brenda Thompson is an activist with Free Transit Campaign and TTCriders, Toronto
• Janine Booth is a London Underground RMT union activist and author of Plundering London Underground

Sponsored by Centre for Social Justice, Free Transit Toronto Campaign and Socialist Project.