MoveOntario 2020

[Jdot]

If only our powerstations were as nice as Battersea Power Station.

 

[kingwilson]

Some thoughts...

16 New GO rail line on the Havelock line from Agincourt to Pickering

This line cuts directly through the airport lands.


32 Hamilton east-west rapid transit on King/Main Streets from Eastgate Mall to McMaster University
33 Hamilton north-south rapid transit on James/Upper James Streets from Rymal Road to King Street
51 Durham rapid transit line on Highway 2 from Oshawa to Pickering

What would be meant by rapid transit line? Bus? Light Rail? Or do they just not know yet?


East Waterfront rapid transit is not mentioned.


46 VIVA Yonge Street from Steeles Avenue to Highway 7 (Langstaff)
47 VIVA Yonge Street from Highway 7 (Langstaff) to 19th Avenue in Richmond Hill
48 VIVA Yonge Street from 19th Avenue to Newmarket
49 VIVA Highway 7 from Highway 50 to Yonge Street (Langstaff)
50 VIVA Highway 7 from Yonge Street (Langstaff) to Cornell

Not sure if these signify transitways or light rail transit. 46 and 48 are white, while the others are yellow. In the rest of the plan, it seems yellow was already planned while white signified new plans... I don't know much about VIVA but I figure this signifies transitways??

 

[ShonTron]

The additional VIVA funding looks like it will be for VIVA II, which is the bus median. Note that a separate listing notes Finch Station to Steeles on Yonge as well (which will be built, then deemed redundant, like the York U transitway.

The Durham and Hamilton "rapid transit" lines are not specified, you are right. Either BRT or LRT, with BRT all but certain for Durham.

 

[Filip]

Did you notice? It seems Blue22 is still alive!

 

[punchbuggy]

Did you notice? It seems Blue22 is still alive!

It's like they took every plan every city had and said election time, you can have your money!

 

[Filip]

It's like they took every plan every city had and said election time, you can have your money!

That is definitely true, so I'll see what every candidate's platform is on transit and then I'll make my decision - right now the Liberals are on top.

Anywhoo.. The best thing for Blue22 would be if it ran as an electrified train, from Union to Pearson and maybe past that to Kitchener/Waterloo. A nice modern Euro styled transit system!

 

[unimaginative2]

This really is an incredibly exciting announcement. Despite the projects that I think are a bit questionable, I still think there are so many little things in there that we haven’t heard anything about before now. I’m really intrigued by the LRT from Kipling to Hurontario and the Hamilton lines. They seem to be jumping all the phases for the VIVA and Acceleride projects and going right to LRT on Hurontario and even subway on Yonge. While the Yonge Subway will likely add to overcrowding problems on that line, it will certainly be quite well-used since the corridor even through York Region is very well-developed. The GO improvements are all outstanding and long overdue. I’m really quite surprised about the electrification. This really is a signal that the government is looking to turn GO into a real rapid transit service, at least on the Lakeshore. I’m even more surprised about the crosstown route. I hope that they operate it at a frequency that makes it genuine rapid transit. Even if they don’t in the short term, it’s a good way to provide relief to Union and make GO more attractive to people who work closer to Bloor. It will only be successful with GO/TTC fare integration, though. Incidentally, with all this money being spent, why don’t they introduce a smart card for the TTC? The province seems to be doing exactly to the letter what the City has asked for. I just wish that the City asked for something a little better.

I'm hoping beyond all hope that somehow someone somewhere will realize that it's ridiculous to put a streetcar on Sheppard rather than finishing the subway. I just hope that some study or perhaps the province or local groups will ask for the subway. Once you've built a complex underground interchange at Don Mills and rebuilt Sheppard, it's not going to cost that much less than a subway.

It just goes to show that York Region demands subways and gets subways, while Mississauga and Toronto demand streetcars and get streetcars.

 

[punchbuggy]

This really is an incredibly exciting announcement. Despite the projects that I think are a bit questionable, I still think there are so many little things in there that we haven’t heard anything about before now. I’m really intrigued by the LRT from Kipling to Hurontario and the Hamilton lines. They seem to be jumping all the phases for the VIVA and Acceleride projects and going right to LRT on Hurontario and even subway on Yonge. While the Yonge Subway will likely add to overcrowding problems on that line, it will certainly be quite well-used since the corridor even through York Region is very well-developed. The GO improvements are all outstanding and long overdue. I’m really quite surprised about the electrification. This really is a signal that the government is looking to turn GO into a real rapid transit service, at least on the Lakeshore. I’m even more surprised about the crosstown route. I hope that they operate it at a frequency that makes it genuine rapid transit. Even if they don’t in the short term, it’s a good way to provide relief to Union and make GO more attractive to people who work closer to Bloor. It will only be successful with GO/TTC fare integration, though. Incidentally, with all this money being spent, why don’t they introduce a smart card for the TTC? The province seems to be doing exactly to the letter what the City has asked for. I just wish that the City asked for something a little better.

I'm hoping beyond all hope that somehow someone somewhere will realize that it's ridiculous to put a streetcar on Sheppard rather than finishing the subway. I just hope that some study or perhaps the province or local groups will ask for the subway. Once you've built a complex underground interchange at Don Mills and rebuilt Sheppard, it's not going to cost that much less than a subway.

It just goes to show that York Region demands subways and gets subways, while Mississauga and Toronto demand streetcars and get streetcars.

Fare integration will be complete by 2010 i believe when all the systems will be under the direction of the GTAA. I think this year or next theyre starting a trial with users from mississauaga

 

[ShonTron]

That's only the smart card, which only has "fare integration" as far as you can pay all the separate fares on one integrated card.

Full fare integration is what you find say in London - where your Travelcard is good for all buses, underground, local rail within the specified zones, despite them being different operators. Partial fare integration is what you find with GO and the suburban bus systems, where a $0.50 fare gets you a discount on the local buses with a valid GO ticket.

Fare integration (at least partial) is necessary to make a crosstown line useful, and full fare integration will be needed to get students onto the Sorbara Subway from Steeles, Highway 407 or 7 that are currently taking their GO or YRT bus directly into York U.

 

[unimaginative2]

The TTC has refused to participate in the fare integration.

So! Let the dreaming begin. Now with some actual realistic hope of implementation. I'm guessing that the stops on the Langstaff extension will be at Steeles, Clark and Langstaff. Would intermediate stops at Cummer and perhaps Centre/John make sense? I don't know Thornhill travel patterns that well. I'm guessing that the Bolton GO Train will be quite a success. Probably a stop in Kleinburg, one at about Highway 7 in Woodbridge, maybe another aroudn Rutherford and Major Mack, and perhaps one at Finch? I remember when Emery Village was proposed up at Finch and Weston, the potential GO line was a big selling point.

The GO extension to Bowmanville makes a lot of sense, but I wonder if they'll extend all-day service. It's easy as far as Oshawa since GO owns the tracks, but east of there CN calls the shots and might not more than a few trains per day.

The GO line on the Havelock sub will be really deserted before the North Pickering neighbourhoods and perhaps the airport get built. I can't imagine them building it until near the end of the 12-year plan, and even then it might only make sense up to about Cornell in the medium-term. The Agincourt line on the other hand will be a good alternate route to the crowded Lakeshore, and it will serve the new Seaton neighbourhood very well. Both will also be quite useful for serving Agincourt and Malvern commuters.

While Markham Road is wider than McCowan, the latter might be a better route to run the 407 transitway south to the 401 since it would serve a lot more people both in Milliken and at Scarborough Centre.

The Waterfront East project was always considered a Waterfront project and is funded using TWRC/WaterfrontToronto dollars.

 

[punchbuggy]

That's only the smart card, which only has "fare integration" as far as you can pay all the separate fares on one integrated card.

Full fare integration is what you find say in London - where your Travelcard is good for all buses, underground, local rail within the specified zones, despite them being different operators. Partial fare integration is what you find with GO and the suburban bus systems, where a $0.50 fare gets you a discount on the local buses with a valid GO ticket.

Fare integration (at least partial) is necessary to make a crosstown line useful, and full fare integration will be needed to get students onto the Sorbara Subway from Steeles, Highway 407 or 7 that are currently taking their GO or YRT bus directly into York U.

I'm not sure about the details but thats what I thought previously, a single fare with zones and such. But having a travel card would still be simpler than what it is now.

Also, kitchener-waterloo is also getting funding.

http://www.therecord.com/breakingnews/breakingnews_7425628.html

 

[unimaginative2]

This additional press release is a big sign that GO service expansion means more than just longer trains. They're going to double-track the Bradford line and add more trains.

Largest Rapid Transit Expansion in Canada's History

BARRIE, ON, June 15 /CNW/ - Premier Dalton McGuinty and Minister of
Transportation Donna Cansfield today released MoveOntario 2020, a bold new
rapid transit plan that will create more jobs in the City of Barrie, reduce
traffic congestion and improve the environment.
"The people of Barrie deserve a transit system that meets their needs so
they can spend less time commuting and more time with their families," Premier
McGuinty said. "Businesses will also be able to get their goods to market on
time and keep Ontario's economy strong."
MoveOntario 2020, a $17.5 billion rapid transit plan, is the largest
transit investment in Canadian history. By 2015, two-thirds of the
construction for MoveOntario 2020 will be completed, with nearly full
completion of the plan in 2020.
The province is contributing up to $11.5 billion and is calling on the
federal government to cover at least one third of the costs, expected to be $6
billion. The province will cover the balance of the capital costs and the
province and municipalities will continue to share operating costs through the
existing provincial gas tax program. The Greater Toronto Transportation
Authority has been asked to report back with an implementation plan for these
projects by early 2008.
Ontario's plan calls for 52 rapid transit projects that will create
175,000 jobs during construction. By 2020, it will also reduce carbon dioxide
emissions in the region by 10 megatonnes.

<<
Under the new rapid transit plan, the City of Barrie would see the:

- Expansion of service on the Bradford GO rail line extension to Barrie
beyond the four daily trains expected to serve Barrie by late 2007
- Doubling the tracks to allow for more frequent service
>>

"Transforming our system will not happen overnight, but it must be done,"
Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield said. "We need to develop a
sustainable transportation system which gets people out of their cars and onto
transit to reduce congestion and improve our environment."

 

[Dan416]

Odd that the only subways on the list are into York Region. The Scarborough Subway, the Sheppard Subway and the Eglinton Subway are all higher priority in my humble opinion. And the Dundas LRT shuld be subway.

Nevertheless, all these random disparate projects really make the whole thing seem piecemeal and uncoordinated. I agree with whoever said they just took every city's plans and 'approved' them. What should be done is the network looked at as a whole and go from there. Where should subways go? Where the highest population is. i.e. downtown Toronto and the rest of the city of Toronto.

 

[doady]

The Dundas LRT (along with the Hurontario LRT) was actually sometihng that Mississauga requested be included in the greenbelt plan a few years ago, so it is not new. That is what people need to realize: there is nothing new in this announcement other than funding of existing proposals or plans. Even the Yonge line was part of the RTES 2002 (and the DRL was not). This is sensible: let the transit systems come up with the plans and the province just provides the funding.

Anyways, this is a great announcement. I have already decided before that I will vote for the Liberals and this just reinforces my decision.

 

[Dan416]

What I'm a little confused about is their plan to pay it off over 50 years or whatever. Can they do that?