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Couldn't shouldn't be micromanaging design details like that anyway. Those are decisions for engineers and planners. In any case, the city cut its transit subsidy this year and is likely to do so again next year. We don't have anywhere near the level of committed operational funding to pay for...

That's kind of a selling feature, honestly. It costs a hell of a lot to operate an underground station.

Traffic on the 401 will always suck. There is no magical transit system we can build that will make the 401 empty at rush hour. This is not a realistic goal.

Spending an extra $2 billion to avoid dealing with a management problem is ridiculous. Just fix the management problem.

Adam Vaughan called into Jerry Agar's show today and made it sound like a Sheppard Subway extension to Victoria Park would end up as part of the light rail plan. It'll be interesting to see if Metrolinx goes for it - there could be issues with financing.

Matlow, who's been one of the architects of this transit shift (along with Stintz), mentioned transit priorities beyond TC in an update to his constituents last night: http://joshmatlow.ca/ward-22/newsletters/726-its-time-to-move-forward-with-building-transit.html

Think Kalinowski read the TTC's charts wrong. Their standard chart indicates that subway maxes out at 30,000 while ROW LRT maxes at 12,000. She reported the maximums as minimums.

Maybe we could add $60 or so to the cost of vehicle registration and use that revenue to pay for things.

Ford definitely had a string of wins early in his mayoralty, even if I disagreed with a lot of the decisions council made. He totally and completed failed to do anything to consolidate and maintain that power, however. That's the really frustrating thing about this: there are still a majority...

Metrolinx always expected that the MOU would go before council. The ridiculous part is that Ford could have easily passed the MOU as-is had he brought it straight to vote in April or May of last year.

Because there is a political reality we can't ignore when talking about transit. There's no appetite amongst constituents for elevated rail lines down their streets, just as there' no appetite for planning density at the levels necessary to create successful subway lines.

That grade separation work was already started and, as I understand it, is work that needed to be done for GO Transit either way. The federal contribution is for 1/3 of the total Sheppard East LRT project cost. (The province was to cover the other 2/3rds.) Hearsay theory that's not entirely...

The issue right now is finding a way to get a transit-related item on the council agenda. To avoid going through the committee process -- where any item can get deferred forever --, an item needs 2/3s support from councillors. While the mayor absolutely does not have a majority on his side, he...

You guys are using fine logic and all, but the political reality tends to be that, as projects get into the design/consultation phase, residents demand more stops and/or overlapping bus service. In any case, removing stops on an LRT line -- or not using them as peak times -- is not a big deal...

The challenge with maximizing stop spacing to increase average speed is that it'll inevitably lead to demand for overlapping bus service to "fill the gaps." This increases operating costs significantly. (And the mostly seniors who will demand their bus service will inevitably get their way.)...

Speaking of chains, the Distillery District is getting a Beer Boutique. http://www.thebeerstore.ca/happenings/beer-boutique-distillery-district/2011-12-16

"Jobs for Life" is a slogan more than anything. The city can still layoff unionized workers, but it involves a long and expensive 'bumping' process that sees employees with seniority protected. The budget as a whole is tricky to evaluate because we won't know the qualitative impacts of base...

It's more than symbolic. Council essentially passed every amendment on the floor. (There was only one exception, and it was a hail mary play.) There was no effort made to reverse any of the other cuts nor did council's left seek to vote down the budget as a whole. More importantly, Ford was...

Thanks for the link! Moeser's in the hospital with some pretty serious medical issues. He's expected to recover and we wish him the best. (Thankfully, his vote --- probably supporting the mayor -- wouldn't have made a difference on most of the major items yesterday. Would have cheapened things...