What's going on with TransitCity?

[Marcanadian]

Stinitz's motion has passed 26-17. Transit City looks to be back!

[icemachine]

Hmm - Norm Kelly says he accidentally voted for her motion, they reopened it and now its 27-16. Either he misread it, or two others switched votes as well

[Marcanadian]

Minnan-Wong and Thompson misvoted too, so they reopened it twice.

[Diesel_Power]

Transit City's back baby!

I can't wait to get into work tomorrow and look at the front page of my boss's Toronto Sun. I'm sure i'll get a good laugh.

oh yeah, and one more thing. Why does Rob and his allies keep calling an underground LRT a subway????

[monkeyronin]

Originally Posted by Diesel_Power

oh yeah, and one more thing. Why does Rob and his allies keep calling an underground LRT a subway????

Because a subway means underground...

The train technology used is irrelevant.

[allurban]

Originally Posted by monkeyronin

Because a subway means underground...

The train technology used is irrelevant.

And no matter the train technology, any light rail vehicle above the ground can be called an "LRT" (Spadina "LRT", St. Clair "LRT", Scarborough "LRT") whenever necessary, but must also be referred to as a "glorified streetcar" for propaganda & confusion purposes.

Cheers, m

[current]

Globe article:
Interactive Map: The Storied History of Toronto's Transit Plans
From a massive network of light-rail lines to the Sheppard subway extension, a review of transit plans proposed, adapted and cancelled:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/.../?from=2337244

.

[icemachine]

The report Rob is dismissing as Hogwash

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2...file-45908.pdf

[The Mad Navigator]

Originally Posted by icemachine

The report Rob is dismissing as Hogwash

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2...file-45908.pdf

Figures, but who cares about him anyway.... we're getting Transit City back!

[icemachine]

Looks like LRT will win out for sure, Moeser has committed to voting for LRT on Sheppard

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/...s-setback?bn=1

[JustinB]

Ron Moeser will not be there for the meeting. But he did pen a letter that Stintz handed out to all councilors.

[Marcanadian]

Mary Margaret McMahon has confirmed her support for LRT on Sheppard.

[AndrewJM3D]

So is it safe to say Transit City is back now?

[icemachine]

I think we'll have to wait for the provincial budget next week for the funding to be reconfirmed before saying it definitively, but I believe so

[current]

Toronto Star article:
Metrolinx Ponders Timing of Sheppard LRT

Published On Fri Mar 23 2012
Tess Kalinowski, Daniel Dale and Robert Benzie

It will likely be a couple of months before the city and province ink a master agreement determining the construction phasing and cash flow for the three LRTs city council has approved, TTC chair Karen Stintz said Friday. Although construction is underway on Eglinton Ave., Stintz said it’s unclear whether Sheppard or Finch would be built first.

Metrolinx said Friday it expects to take a recommendation on the city’s LRT plan to its next board meeting. A spokesman said the meeting date hasn’t been confirmed, although the agency’s website identified June 21. “We’re further along with the studies for Sheppard. But ultimately those decisions are made by Metrolinx and cabinet. Both are important, both will get built,” said Stintz. Some city councillors say Sheppard should be built first to prevent Mayor Rob Ford from reopening the issue if he wins the next election....

...At Queen’s Park, Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli said that after six years of wrangling with two mayors, the province is anxious to move on the LRT. “Our perspective right now is that there will not be any further council resolutions that are required to implement what they’ve passed with these resolutions,” said Chiarelli.


“We all understand that it’s council that rules. A mayor has a lot of influence, but a mayor has one vote, anywhere in Ontario,” said the former Ottawa mayor. “We learn that very early in the mayoring business.”



Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/transpor...f-sheppard-lrt

[James-Bond]

Ontario Agrees to Fund Yet Another LRT Line in Toronto



Money for Sheppard East LRT expands city’s commitment to new transit solutions

Ontario’s government announced last week that it would chip in $950 million (Canadian) for the construction of a new light rail transit line in Canada’s largest city, Toronto. The commitment comes in addition to the previously declared appropriations for two other LRT projects and three rapid transit extensions, as well as last month’s exciting news that the city would be investing in 200 new streetcars from Bombardier. Collectively, the news suddenly makes Toronto the North American city with the largest transit expansion program.

The province’s most recent funding commitment will ensure the construction of the Sheppard East LRT line, which will run 15 km east from the Don Mills subway station on the Sheppard heavy rail line. The project — to open in 2013 — is expected to carry 45,000 daily riders, a number that will only increase when the also-funded extension of the Scarborough RT line is completed.

Unlike the large streetcar network that runs downtown, the Sheppard East LRT will operate in its own right-of-way, ensuring fast connections and reliable service times. Some have suggested that an expansion of the Sheppard subway would be preferable considering the high expected ridership, but the choice of light rail is a reflection of economic reality. Toronto has been pushing for a massive multi-line transit expansion called “Transit City” since 2007, and building so many underground lines would cost more than the city or region are able to contribute: the 8.6 km Spadina subway extension, for example, will cost $2.6 billion to build, about four times the per-mile cost as the proposed Sheppard East line.

But LRT in its own right-of-way will offer a high level of service for transit riders, and that’s presumably why the province previously made funds available for the Etobicoke-Finch West corridor, which will run east-west in the northern areas of the city (23 km, $1.2 billion), and the Eglinton Crosstown line (31 km, $4.6 billion), which will provide connections between the airport and Midtown.

Four other lines also delineated by the Transit City proposal — the Jane, Don Mills, Scarborough Malvern, and Waterfront West LRT lines — have yet to be funded by either the city or the provincial governments. But Canada’s ruling conservative party is in trouble politically — it almost lost its minority control over the government in January — so finding federal funds to ensure the completion of the entire Transit City project could prove advantageous in attracting the votes of Toronto’s large electorate. Mayor David Miller, who spearheaded the Transit City program, is a political independent and former member of the leftist New Democratic Party, and could prove a formidable future rival to the conservative government; the same could be said for ambitious Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who is a member of the Liberal Party (center-left).

Funding committed thus far to transit expansion in Toronto over the next five years now reaches over $10 billion even without the LRT projects that have yet to be funded, quite a considerable sum matched by few cities worldwide. What’s perhaps most impressive about Toronto’s plans, though, isn’t their scope, but rather their provisions for the city as a whole. While the city’s two major rapid transit routes focus on the downtown area, these new light rail projects will improve crosstown connections, underprioritized in most metropolitan areas. As a result, instead of simply reinforcing the centrality of the core, Toronto will provide mobility improvements and transit-oriented development possibilities to inhabitants throughout the metropolis.

http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2...ne-in-toronto/

For those who live in Scarborough, you otta know how bad the bus system is here. The 116 is getting replaced with the LRT. I couldn't be happier.

[TheMann2000]

Are all of those LRT lines are actually approved for construction, or just in the plans?

[icemachine]

What's funded is in the thick red dash lines, with the exception of Eglinton between Jane and the Airport - oh and Yonge extension has no agreed upon funding either

[STAR-ter]

I wonder what will they do on Queen Street.

Waterfront is already a LRT and its extension to the west would probably go along the current Queensway Streetcar/LRT. But they have no way of turning the Queen St into a LRT... So I am assuming the Queen St Streetcar will have to turn back at Roncesvalles and the LRT would run from Queensway all along the waterfront. Am I right?

[icemachine]

I believe (should they be funded) the plan for Waterfront West and Queens Quay East/Portlands "LRTs" is to be built using TTC Gauge and run with the new Flexity cars that are supposed to arrive starting next year, otherwise they would require their own garage and repair facilities.