Toronto residents uninformed about Metrolinx transit plan

Four years ago, the provincial agency Metrolinx came up with a comprehensive plan to deal with congestion in Greater Toronto and Hamilton by building more transit. Titled the “Big Move,” it envisions vastly improved GO Train service, several new LRT lines, expansions of the subway system and several bus projects. But barely anyone knows about it.

In fact, close to 90 per cent of respondents in the Nanos Research survey said they had never heard of the plan, suggesting the province has a lot more work to do to bring the public on side. Toronto Board of Trade president Carol Wilding said people might be more willing to pay extra for better transit if they know there is a plan in place.

“It’s important that the province drive discussion, drive debate and drive a solution,” she said.

Paul Bedford, a former Metrolinx board member, said the region needs more public discussion and debate to move beyond simply being frustrated by the problem.

“People need to understand that, yeah, we've got a mess, it will only get worse if we do nothing and there are the choices … and there are consequences for each of those choices, and we've got to make a decision,” he said.

Original Article
Source: the globe and mail
Author: ADRIAN MORROW

Doug Ford: Light rail plans example of 'war on the car'

A vote by provincial transit agency Metrolinx in favour of the construction of four light rail lines across Toronto by 2020 is the latest instance of a "war on the car" in the city, says Coun. Doug Ford.

The Metrolinx board voted unanimously Wednesday to move ahead with a modified version of the Transit City plan that Mayor Rob Ford has campaigned against.

Doug Ford, the mayor's brother and a key council ally, was quick to denounce the move.

"Some councillors down here, and obviously the province, are ignoring the people," Ford told reporters after the vote. "Once again, the people want subways and they're totally ignoring them. So let's wait until the election."

Metrolinx has outlined a number of target dates for construction and completion of the four LRT lines: Sheppard East, Finch West, Scarborough RT replacement and the Eglinton Crosstown.

Construction on the Sheppard East line will begin first, in 2014, under the Metrolinx recommendations.

Metrolinx aims to have all lines up and running by 2020.

LRT Lifeline to Scarborough

You had to know that Rob Ford, who I’m told likes to kick back by watching UFC, wasn’t going to give up on his Sheppard subway scheme without a fight.

The propaganda offensive to save his subway ahead of yesterday’s (Wednesday March 21) council vote has been nothing short of breathtaking in its audacity. Witness the bafflegab at Monday night’s meeting of Ford front group Subways Are for Everyone (SAFE) at Scarborough Town Centre.

If I had to come up with a title for the night, it might be something like Rob Ford And The Death Of Reason. Who needs transit science when hysteria will do?

Ford has been busy using his weekly radio show to play divide-and-conquer, trying to convince Scarborough residents that LRT is a plot concocted by downtown lefties to saddle them with second-rate transit.

That sentiment was in ample evidence at Monday night’s meeting.

The literature being handed out was enough to make you wonder if riding LRT is a death trap: flyers with info culled from a quick Google search or two about teens killed by LRT in Edmonton in 2010 and three crashes of the Seattle LRT before it even opened in 2009. Ooh, scary.

Centrists’ message to Mayor Rob Ford: If transit taxes are coming, build across Toronto

Councillors being wooed by Mayor Rob Ford to support Sheppard subway expansion are telling him to look beyond Scarborough, especially if new city-wide fees or taxes are on the table.

In a recent meeting with Ford, centrist councillors Mary-Margaret McMahon and Ana Bailão pushed construction of a “downtown relief line” connecting the Yonge and Bloor lines. McMahon also pitched rapid transit to serve communities springing up on the eastern downtown waterfront.

“If we can find the funding pot of gold, a combination of road tolls and parking levies or whatever to build transit in Toronto, let’s spread the love,” said McMahon (Ward 32, Beaches-East York).

Bailão (Ward 18, Davenport) wants to see a “realistic business plan” for a Sheppard subway at a March 21 special council meeting, and long-term solutions including the relief line to ease chronic overcrowding.

Ford showed no enthusiasm but “didn’t say no,” McMahon noted.

Etobicoke Centre Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby told the mayor this week she’s prepared to “look very carefully” at a realistic business plan for subway, as opposed to the cheaper surface light rail many councillors say is better suited to Sheppard’s population density.

TTC may not run the Eglinton Crosstown LRT

The biggest, most expensive public transit project in Toronto’s recent history could be built and operated without any involvement by the TTC.

Metrolinx is considering a public-private partnership to design, finance, build and even potentially operate and maintain the provincially funded $8.2 billion Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown light rail line.

It’s not clear what adding a private operator to the Toronto transit equation would mean to riders, but transit officials say a complex agreement between the TTC and an alternate provider would have to be worked out to ensure commuters could move easily between two systems. Fare payments, transfer points and protocols for service disruptions and public complaints would all need to be considered.

If Metrolinx decides on a private partnership, it would be the biggest public transit project in the province to be administered by Infrastructure Ontario, the government agency that handles alternative financing and procurements (AFPs).