I don't know if this has been suggested yet, and I may be giving the broFo to much credit, but is it possible that the council vote for LRT played right into the broFo's plans? Here's my reasoning:
We all thought that Ford was screwed for promising two underground transit lines running to Scarborough Town Centre at no extra cost to the taxpayer. There was no way he was going to pull this off and it was just a matter of time before it blew up in his face. He probably realized this very early on and was more interested in engineering an escape from this situation than in actually producing any new transit lines. Since council took the initiative in voting down his subway plan before it actually got started, it allows Ford to continue to chant the mantra "it's all about subways" without having to put his money where his mouth is, so to speak. Now he can go back to the electorate with the argument: "You wanted subways, and I tried to deliver, but council and the left-wing media stopped me because they're all downtown elitists", rather than "I promised subways, but it turned out to be harder than I though. Sorry about that".
Remember: Ford has no love for public transit. This is all about positioning himself for reelection rather than producing actual results.