GraphicMatt
Looking forward to a FRESH START for Toronto
Anyone ever seen Ford use public transit?
I think that, of all the candidates, Smitherman is the likeliest to actually get actual money for transit construction. Good intentions are nice, but the ability to follow through on them is important too. Even if Hudak or Horwath become premier, the fact that Smitherman has cabinet experience at the provincial level will mean that he will have the provincial and, in the longer term, federal connections necessary to get senior levels of government to invest in Toronto.
Your going to vote for someone who is best known for his drunken antics, racist comments, and being charged for wife-beating, simply because you like his subway policy?
Surely one should consider the bigger picture!
Not that his subway policy makes any sense ... how would a PPP get the income to pay for construction, and generate their large profits? Can you explain that? Surely it would be a repeat of the Union Pearson disaster.
Smitherman's advantage is that he is grounded in reality, Ford's proposal is a fantasy.
What's your point? Smitherman is only somewhat better than Ford. The guy proved his ignorance on Toronto issues back during the streetcar funding debate, saying that he was unaware that Toronto was going to have to buy new streetcars; even though the tender had been ongoing for a couple of years, had receved significant media coverage, and many documents had been sent to his ministry. Though on the positive side, Smitherman's substance abuse issues seem to be in the past.Or lest we forget the other forerunner had a substance abuse problem and alledgedly took to the services of escorts.
Promising subways is easy, paying for them is hard. Air rights would put only a small dent, road tolls would be a good start but would still be far from enough to cover a new line. (well a subway)[/URL]
For someone who is such a notorious penny pincher and a reputation for being good with money (at least from some), you would think that:
A) He would know that number that you would get from air rights is several orders of magnitude less than what you would actually need to build it.
B) Suburban subway service is a huge money pit that costs tens of millions more to operate than the bus service that it replaces.
.. and to think I thought he was starting to sound reasonable with his recent comments on bike paths lol. It does play well with the demagogues though. Just look at this thread.
I think Mr. Ford knows exactly what he is talking about. It's true many torontonians want subways, since they are pretty clueless about the benefits of LRT, and are ignorant of why subways in suburbs will most likely not benefit them.
Yeah, your right... the do-nothing or keep-as-is reality!