Transit City Plan

[ShonTron]

Where is the Transit City Progress thread? It would be nice to have a thread showing pictures of construction at Agincourt, news on tenders, news on EA completion, etc. Too bad all we have is poorly named Transit City Gripe threads.

Transit City is not one project - each line is its own project. Check out the two Eglinton threads now.

"Transit City: Progress" is not an ideal thread if you are looking for pics of mud being moved around in Agincourt.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

In less time than it takes someone to needlessly gripe about griping, they could have scrolled down the transportation forum and seen several threads on specific projects.

Only if less suburban means more Dubai.

Or if you don't know what suburban means. Or if you've never been to Sheppard. Either applies to you.

Since when is Dubai building 3-8 storey buildings with street retail on its main streets?

 

[M II A II R II K]

Transit City plan affordable and reliable


Mar 24 2010

Gary Webster, Chief General Manager, Toronto Transit Commission

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/784270--transit-city-plan-affordable-and-reliable

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Richard Gilbert is critical of Toronto's Transit City Light Rail Plan. Several points in response: First, Scarborough Rapid Transit forms the backbone of transit in Scarborough today. It is crowded because of the increasing demand for service. The line will soon be upgraded and extended, carrying three times as many people as it does today. Secondly, ridership on the Sheppard Subway has increased by about 300 per cent since it was built. The subway is directly responsible for development on Sheppard Ave.

Gilbert compares the lower costs of Norfolk, Va.'s light rail line to Transit City, but fails to mention that Toronto's lines will provide service every 3 to 10 minutes, compared to 7 to 30 minutes for Norfolk. And Norfolk's line will carry up to 12,000 passengers per day, compared to 170,000 per day on the Eglinton Crosstown line alone. Thus Toronto will need more light rail vehicles, hence greater costs.

On the matter of subway vs. light rail, the TTC did extensive ridership projections and it was determined no corridor in the city would generate enough ridership to justify spending 400 per cent more on a subway line. Public transit needs to be reliable and affordable for it to be viable. Transit City will do just that as Toronto embarks on the biggest expansion of transit in its history.

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[M II A II R II K]

Why not put groceries at Transit City stops to encourage riding light rail?


Mar 23 2010

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/yourcitymycity/article/784305--better-ways-to-feed-the-city?bn=1

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Marit Stiles is director of research at the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA). She currently sits on the board of her non-profit daycare and on the steering committee of the Senior Artists Research Project. Born and raised in St. John’s, Nfld., Stiles has embraced urban living in downtown west-end Toronto where she lives with her partner and daughters aged 6 and 9.

She writes:

“Too many Toronto neighbourhoods are food deserts, where walking to a grocery store can be far more difficult for a single working parent than taking the car to the fast food joint down the road. And too few families can actually afford to buy food, period, after they pay rent.

“Still, much of Toronto is experiencing a food renaissance. More people are growing food in their backyard. Toronto is a foodie mecca, with a multitude of food choices and a crop of chefs and shop owners with a passion for locally produced, ecologically sound food.

On Friday nights, my urban kids can join our neighbours for a pay-what-you-can supper cooked in a brick oven by park staff, made from food purchased at the park farmers’ market. Friendships are made while the seeds of community action are sown.

All neighbourhoods should have a taste of this. More than a taste … a big sustaining gulp."

 

[Asterix]

A few obvious flaws in this argument:

- "where walking to a grocery store can be far more difficult for a single working parent than taking the car to the fast food joint down the road." Um, if you are driving to the fast food joint, what is preventing you from driving to the grocery store? Are there any fast food joints that have parking at all close to any grocery stores that do not?

- The 'demand' to put grocery stores at Transit City stops. Aren't the majority of stops simply surface stops just like all the existing bus and streetcar stops and even those few underground Eglinton ones are limited in size and not containing vast mezzanines available for commercial purposes like the present Eglinton station?

What she seems to be expecting is that the city compel private enterprises (grocery stores) who already operate on a tight margin, to construct stores in locations that are presumably already developed. Is the city going to expropriate land for this purpose? If there was a financial case for such grocery stores in those locations, why have the big chains not already pursued that option? (And are is there really a dearth of grocery stores presently near any of the proposed Transit City lines?)

 

[dob467]

Why would the city have to compel the grocery stores? Couldn't they encourage it? Sure look at all the subway stations that operate as stand alone buildings (i.e. Bathurst). Or consider that the stations could operate as small famers markets one day a week ala what's happening in many parks during the summer. The city / TTC could easily encourage more development and commercial activity at these sites. I'm assuming that's what Stiles is suggesting.

 

[Asterix]

Why would the city have to compel the grocery stores? Couldn't they encourage it? Sure look at all the subway stations that operate as stand alone buildings (i.e. Bathurst). Or consider that the stations could operate as small famers markets one day a week ala what's happening in many parks during the summer. The city / TTC could easily encourage more development and commercial activity at these sites. I'm assuming that's what Stiles is suggesting.

Other than the middle portion of the Eglinton line, all stops will be surface stops very much like existing streetcar stops. They are not stand alone buildings, let alone locations that have any room for a grocery store.

The underground stations on Eglinton are relatively small, narrow boxes. They don't have room within the station to put retail, let alone grocery store sized retail and given they are under the road itself, can't put a grocery store on top of the station.

So there are no Transit City stations that "could operate as small farmers markets".

With regard to encouraging more development at those sites, that is beyond the TTC's control since they have nothing to do with the land. Maybe the city could encourage something, but what Transit City lines are not through relatively developed properties already (let alone areas that are severely deprived of grocery stores)?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Other than the middle portion of the Eglinton line, all stops will be surface stops very much like existing streetcar stops. They are not stand alone buildings, let alone locations that have any room for a grocery store.

The underground stations on Eglinton are relatively small, narrow boxes. They don't have room within the station to put retail, let alone grocery store sized retail and given they are under the road itself, can't put a grocery store on top of the station.

So there are no Transit City stations that "could operate as small farmers markets".

With regard to encouraging more development at those sites, that is beyond the TTC's control since they have nothing to do with the land. Maybe the city could encourage something, but what Transit City lines are not through relatively developed properties already (let alone areas that are severely deprived of grocery stores)?

The surface platforms will be about the width of a traffic lane, with a canopy. The length will be about 3 LFLRV's or about 6 of our current CLRV's.

 

[CDL.TO]

Toronto-area transit projects put on hold

Jill Mahoney

Globe and Mail Update Published on Thursday, Mar. 25, 2010 4:04PM EDT Last updated on Thursday, Mar. 25, 2010 4:53PM EDT

The Ontario government is delaying funding for major transit projects in the Greater Toronto Area, including four central to Toronto Mayor David Miller’s ambitious public transportation legacy.

Citing deficit pressures, the province used Thursday’s budget to postpone $4-billion in spending over the next five years for key Metrolinx projects.

The move by Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government is likely to be interpreted as a drop in support for public transit in the GTA. Less than a year ago, the Liberals announced $9.3-billion for the fast-track expansion projects, a commitment widely viewed as a political victory for Mr. Miller.

“We’re going to work with Metrolinx to ensure that those [projects] that are needed most quickly continue on and that the other ones are still going to continue on, just over a longer period,” Finance Minister Dwight Duncan told reporters Thursday.

The government said the restraint measure could affect five planned transportation expansion projects: The Scarborough rapid transit line, the Eglinton cross-town line, the Finch West rapid transit line, the Sheppard East line and the expansion of the York Viva service.

The projects are major elements of Mr. Miller’s Transit City plan to expand public transportation – including light rail – deeper into Toronto’s suburbs.

The government is asking Metrolinx, its regional transportation agency, to submit a proposal phasing in the projects for a total of $4-billion in savings over five years, starting in 2010-2011. An official said it would take a few months for the government to decide which projects will be delayed.

The five projects were initially slated to be finished between 2013 and 2016, with most in time for the 2015 Pan-Am games. Construction has already started on the Sheppard East line and the York Viva expansion. Work on the other projects was to begin this year.

By delaying the projects, a government official said Thursday that the GTA will avoid traffic snarls caused by so much roadwork while also staying within the capacity of the local construction industry.

Government officials said the move would not affect the ongoing expansion of the Spadina subway line or improvements to GO’s Georgetown South line, which is expected to be finished by 2015 and will include a link between Union Station and Pearson International Airport.

Also in Thursday’s budget, the Liberals scrapped a program that helped cities replace aging buses, saying future purchases will now be eligible under the municipal share of the gas tax. The government will honour $174-million in one-time funding for 2009-2010 for cities that have already placed orders for new buses.

 

[fanoftoronto]

Without this delay Eglinton Crosstown would've taken till 2020 to be completed and now with the delay I'm beginning to doubt if it ever will be completed!! Maybe 2025??

 

[Dan416]

Without this delay Eglinton Crosstown would've taken till 2020 to be completed and now with the delay I'm beginning to doubt if it ever will be completed!! Maybe 2025??

Indeed Eglinton looks to be the real loser in this debacle. Deja vu all over again?

 

[Calrissian]

Without this delay Eglinton Crosstown would've taken till 2020 to be completed and now with the delay I'm beginning to doubt if it ever will be completed!! Maybe 2025??

Not even then, it will die on the table... and when revisited again, whatever incarnation it comes back at (LRT, subway, EL), the same cycle will prevent anything from happening. I can't beleive I fell for this song and dance, again. I resign myself from any more hope for this city.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Did any highway projects get on the list to be delayed or canceled? Why is that the transit projects are the first to be delayed or canceled? Shouldn’t the 427 extension or the 401 widening in Mississauga be on the list?

 

[fanoftoronto]

I'm guessing the Transit funding got axed because they haven't started construction yet. Sheppard LRT is safe seeing as the construction has started. Why stop something that's already underway? That said, all other sections of the budget cut was spread across Ontario but the transit cuts were mainly focused on the Metrolinx which I think is a big rip-off!!
WTF!! I guess McGuinty just wanted to say he initiated $9 billion worth transit investment only to take back 50% of that!!!

 

[Second_in_pie]

Well what did you expect? Were there even any other transit projects anywhere else in Ontario? Thunder Bay and Sudbury are already done their new busses, London's still debating their RT (and will be for some time to come,) and after that there's not really anything.

I've already expressed my displeasure about this issue in the thread about it, but I'm not sure where I stand on it. It does give a blanker slate for someone to come along 10/20 years in the future to build something different, but the SELRT and SRT are still going forward, the things that will actually need to be rebuilt in 20 years

HMM!