allabootmatt
Senior Member
Does anyone know what time the announcement is? It's not in the CNW daybook.
Edit: answered my own question. 11AM.
Edit: answered my own question. 11AM.
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Though as I ponder it, the use of the larger ALRV vehicles on Queen during rush-hour hasn't really been much of a success. As a result, service is less frequent than it would be with smaller vehicles, and the need to short-turn vehicles results in a very unreliable service at the extremeties of the route. I see a similiar effect on the King and Carleton routes ... but as they are more frequent in rush-hour, the effect isn't really as noticeable.For rush-hour, absolutely, I agree. It's the off-peak services I'm more concerned about.
I don't think either mayor is speaking specifically of streetcars....they are saying that they did not submit certain requests for funding because they were told they would not qualify and that only qualifying projects would be funded. Their beef is that a similar warning/threat about Toronto's non-qualifying submission has just been ignored.
If true....its a fair beef.
The city could also, conceivably, borrow against Federal stimulus money that was actually earmarked. They could, say, defer water main replacement and crucial road repair to buy 200 streetcars from Thunder Bay. Knowing Miller's penchant for streetcars and downtown councillors' nuanced hatred for cars and road infrastructure, I wouldn't even rule out this possibility.
The city could also, conceivably, borrow against Federal stimulus money that was actually earmarked. They could, say, defer water main replacement and crucial road repair to buy 200 streetcars from Thunder Bay. Knowing Miller's penchant for streetcars and downtown councillors' nuanced hatred for cars and road infrastructure, I wouldn't even rule out this possibility.
The biggest question remains whether Ottawa will come to the table with its share, or whether the city will have to fork out a larger portion or finance a chunk through borrowing.
The Ontario government will chip in one-third of the cost for a $1.2-billion streetcar project in Toronto, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced this morning in Thunder Bay.
The provincial investment of $416-million, matching funds from the city of Toronto, still leaves the question of whether and how the federal government might eventually provide funds for 204 streetcars to replace the city's aging fleet.
Given that the costs of these streetcars will be spread out over several years, I really don't understand why Miller can't move up items on the maintenance backlog and free up expenses to pay for the streetcars down the road with savings from the reduced backlog (and lower maintenance costs). If the streetcars are being delivered over 10 years, that's essentially an extra 35-40 million a year which in theory would not start until a few years down the road anyway (with first delivery). That does not seem onerous or woth all this politicking.
Given that the costs of these streetcars will be spread out over several years, I really don't understand why Miller can't move up items on the maintenance backlog and free up expenses to pay for the streetcars down the road with savings from the reduced backlog (and lower maintenance costs). If the streetcars are being delivered over 10 years, that's essentially an extra 35-40 million a year which in theory would not start until a few years down the road anyway (with first delivery). That does not seem onerous or woth all this politicking.