To everyone that thinks that the Ford government is making a breakneck pace in transit development, it only seems to be the case because most of the planning work has been done under the Liberal government, the same government which enhanced the environmental assessment and consultation requirements to ensure that future projects are carried through in a responsible manner.
The only thing that Ford did was to make these laws ineffective by removing those requirements, as well as moving forward with most of the Liberal agenda which is now suddenly shovel-ready since theres no longer a legal responsibility.
This method of working may get projects done quicker, though there will be a much larger environmental cost to pay as climate change takes a better hold on this planet, especially considering all the additional highway construction that they’re trying to ram through with this legislation…
Not really. The only project that the PCs really retained was the Scarborough subway and even that they made substantial revisions to.
The OL, Eglinton West, and Yonge North are more or less greenfield new projects. Yonge North had a 10 year old EA completed, but it's actually the furthest behind in terms of construction start, and the project that will be built is substantially different than the one identified in the original EA.
In 4 years (really 3 since the projects were announced), Ford will have taken four separate subway lines from an idea to actual shovels in the ground. Only two of them had substantial previous environmental assessment work completed.
The Liberals talked big but quietly made sure cash flows for projects were very slow. They eventually got around to building most of their promises, but not nearly as quickly as they could have. Look at how ridiculously long they dragged Transit City out for. Finch West was announced for funding in, what, 2008? The EA was completed in 2009? Then a decade of... nothing... until they finally brought it out for procurement right before they lost power.
They talked big but their actual completed transit project list after 15 years in power is remarkably short. One subway line, an airport train, and 30-minute service on Lakeshore GO lines were their only major transit accomplishments in a decade and a half, with a handful of additional projects underway by the time they lost power.
They do have to be credited for the GO expansion program which is excellent, but it also crawled along for 3 years after project inception before they lost power. It was the one project the Liberals seemed interested in pushing forward with real effort.