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rfmcdonaldOn his first day in office, Toronto mayor Rob Ford cancelled the Toronto Transit Commission's ambitious Transit City project. Basically, Transit City was a plan to create seven new light rail lines, express bus routes, and other expansions of the system in ways that would help integrate Toronto transit with the transit systems of the rest of the Greater Toronto Area. Ford will need to mobilize support on council behind his project, and already $C 130 million has been spent so far and more contracts have been signed, but he can do it. Subways, Ford thinks, are the future.
This isn't good. Andrew Barton points out that subways aren't the only choices for Torontonians who want to improve mass transit, or even necessarily the best choice. The fact that one commenter implies that money for subways can come out of money for arts budgets or income support isn't encouraging. Steve Munro writes that Ford's plan to build more subways could derail the goal of transit integration across the Greater Toronto Area, to say nothing of added cost.
And yes, it will be more expensive, as this comparison suggests, with per-kilometre costs in the low tens of millions (usually around 30 million) for light rail systems of the sort that would have been supported under Transit City, and hundreds of millions (150 to 250 million, generally) for subways.
All this is bad. Do you know what's especially bad? Toronto Star urban issues columnist Christopher Hume's article in today's Star on the issue.
So, in the third paragraph Hume manages to bash the voters of the three former suburbs home to 1.6 out of the City of Toronto's ~2.6 million inhabitants, and in the fourth accuse Ford of favouring a city that--sorry, guys--seems to epitomize failure and dysfunction. This line from the final paragraph--"We won’t have to fret about political correctness any more; those days are officially over"--amuses me. Who cares about building coalitions and changing minds when we can just bash entire communities?
This isn't good. Andrew Barton points out that subways aren't the only choices for Torontonians who want to improve mass transit, or even necessarily the best choice. The fact that one commenter implies that money for subways can come out of money for arts budgets or income support isn't encouraging. Steve Munro writes that Ford's plan to build more subways could derail the goal of transit integration across the Greater Toronto Area, to say nothing of added cost.
The deafening silence from Queen’s Park shows us how much Metrolinx and its regional plan, The Big Move, depend on political agreement among GTA municipalities. Removing the pols from the Metrolinx Board may have centralized important announcements at Queen’s Park, but it did nothing to blunt the effect any local Mayor or Council can have if they don’t play ball.
The Big Move has both a 15-year and a 25-year component, although the likelihood either of these would see substantial construction was compromised the moment Queen’s Park’s budget priorities trumped a scheme to build major transit improvements first as a prelude to new revenue tools. Nobody wants to talk about taxes or tolls, but money for transit, whatever the technology, won’t come from the tooth fairy. It won’t come from the private sector either, at least not without a guaranteed return on their investment.
Ford, whose aggressive tactics on Council are well known but whose character was carefully controlled during the election, has shown that he has a plan, and feels that his mandate gives him carte blanche to implement whatever he wants. The voters have spoken. Those who voted for 44 Councillors might beg to disagree, but that’s for Council to decide in weeks and months ahead.
The real problem is the lack of leadership on the transit file from Queen’s Park. The Big Move was cobbled together from many local plans, including Transit City, and flawed though it might have been, there was general agreement about the shape of the plan. Changing Toronto’s focus to subways unbalances the plan’s scale and benefits, not to mention the huge change in net cost. Mayor Ford’s concern for taxpayers’ dollars appears to end when someone else is expected to pay the bill, and this could deprive Toronto of transit improvements while growth proceeds on smaller-scale projects in the 905.
And yes, it will be more expensive, as this comparison suggests, with per-kilometre costs in the low tens of millions (usually around 30 million) for light rail systems of the sort that would have been supported under Transit City, and hundreds of millions (150 to 250 million, generally) for subways.
All this is bad. Do you know what's especially bad? Toronto Star urban issues columnist Christopher Hume's article in today's Star on the issue.
The “War on the Car” may be over, but the War on the City has only just begun.
After mere hours on the job, Toronto’s newest mayor can already claim to have done more damage to this city than most chief magistrates manage in an entire career.
No doubt they were cheering in Etobicoke, Scarborough and North York as Ford announced he had killed Transit City — though that remains to be seen — but they are the ones who will bear the brunt of his shortsightedness in the years and decades ahead. Indeed, unless council turns out to be exceptionally strong, Ford’s foolishness will set Toronto back immeasurably.
With Ford at the helm, Toronto is set to become Buffalo North, a fate that most likely would please His Worship; after all, the traffic there hums along ever so nicely.
So, in the third paragraph Hume manages to bash the voters of the three former suburbs home to 1.6 out of the City of Toronto's ~2.6 million inhabitants, and in the fourth accuse Ford of favouring a city that--sorry, guys--seems to epitomize failure and dysfunction. This line from the final paragraph--"We won’t have to fret about political correctness any more; those days are officially over"--amuses me. Who cares about building coalitions and changing minds when we can just bash entire communities?
