Author’s Note: This one definitely took me longer than expected. The more I wrote, the more I realized how positive Transit City really will be. The more I read, the more I realized any dumb excuse will be used by those who hate progress. Also, it is long, so there are a lot of topic titles to make for an easier read.

Mr. Ford, full of bluster, wasted no time in telling Torontonians that he plans to run the city as a dictator. He suggests that he in no way needs to consult fellow councillors when it comes to the sweeping away the GTA wide transit plans known as Transit City. The new solution? One subway extension into Scarborough.

So today I’m going to discuss why this is wasteful*, short-sighted, and not in the best interests for ALL of the GTA.

We’ve Already Started

This has to be the biggest one. Ford wants to kill a project to which we have already committed time, money and resources. How can this man honestly say he’s against waste when he is willing to throw away millions of taxpayer dollars that have already been invested in this project?

The 770 million dollar contract with Bombardier has already been formalized with Metrolinx. Will we be able to cancel the contract? Probably. Without penalties? Doubtful. There have been some ramblings among the masses that Bombardier will let us change the contract to subway trains being that they make both. The problem? We don’t need subway trains, we have already ordered a bunch that will starting service next year. There is no motivation to order another gaggle of trains right now. Plus how many more trains do you need for the line with the lowest ridership? Now where near as many Light Rail Vehicles we are ordering.

Do we really expect Bombardier to take this on the nose? Do companies like loosing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue?

Additionally we have already bought the smaller tunnel boring machines for the light rail tunnels that will be running under Eglinton West Street. That’s 54 million dollars we have paid to Lovat, Inc. and I’m pretty sure they don’t have a return policy. (I’m sorry, Lovat? Yeah on second thought they really don’t go with my curtains.)

We Will Put Ourselves Behind

Construction on the Sheppard East Line started last year, predicted to start service in 2014. (This includes a storage area for Light Rail Vehicles). If we stop now, to start building a subway in the same area, we have to conduct a large series of surveys, appropriate more land and find funding once again. With tunnel boring and building large subway stations it will take much longer to finish the line.

To put it in perspective, the Spadina Subway extension is expected to take five years to build; but it’s less than half the distance that needs to be covered between Don Mills Station and Scarborough Town Centre. Of course, the 5.5 kilometre Sheppard Line as it currently exists took eight years to complete, again, about half the distance it will take to complete the line.

What this all amounts to is wasting more time. Upgrading and expanding our system should have been done twenty years ago.

Light Rail Transit Give More Bang For the Buck

Now there are some questions on the exact figures but light rail is most certainly cheaper. At approximately 100,000 to 130,000 per kilometre of track, light rail is one third to one sixth of the price compared to subway track.** If you care at all about the financials subways are an unneeded money pit.

Then you have to consider the added cost of building stations, keeping the powered and hiring more TTC personnel in order to act solely as ticket agents. All additional costs that will not be needed for a simple Light Rail line.

Myth: There’s No Benefit For the Burbs

This falls into two parts; people who just really have not looked at what the plan for Transit City holds and those who just want to stick it to whoever relies on public transportation. The truth is Transit City primarily benefits those in the so-called suburbs.

The Eglinton Crosstown and the Waterfront lines will run to Etobicoke, Finch West will service Rexdale, Jane and Don Mills will provide more service to North York, and when all is said and done Scarborough will receive three new and updated lines.

The idea that we should throw out a plan that reaches people in Etobicoke, Rexdale, North York, and two extra lines into Scarborough for one extension out to Scarborough Town Centre is just ridiculous.

Honestly the biggest supporter to the Transit City plan is Metrolinx. Their entire purpose is to move people around not only the GTA but the 905 area as well. They are using Transit City as a launching pad to also improve service to Vaughn, Mississauga, Richmond Hill, Markham and Brampton. Ford’s dislike for transit punishes those outside of the downtown core, not those in it.

Myth: Light Rail Will Impede Traffic

Blame Ford for this one. With his ridiculous “war on cars” rhetoric he like to pretend that the purpose of the TTC is to irritate him. You know along with the bikers and… well anyone who doesn’t see the world exactly as he does.

The Light Rail system will have their own dedicated lanes, much like St.Clair and Spadina. Wait, won’t that take away lanes for cars? No, the Light Rail plan includes the widening of roads to preserve the current lane space allotted to private vehicle traffic. That is why part of the Eglinton line will be going under street levels; there is a lack of space for the necessary street widening.

The Light Rail will also run better than existing streetcars due to higher top speeds, fewer stops and priority signals. Loading and off-loading will be quicker due to multiple entrances using a Proof-of-Payment or POP system, much like the GO Train system.

Additionally, one Light Rail car will replace three buses and will be better for those suffering from mobility issues. You won’t have to wait for the vehicle to “kneel” and there will be double-doors for wider access.

Traffic along Light Rail line rails will be reduced and more efficient.

Myth: Light Rail Has Weather Concerns

Well, no more than there would be with any other surface vehicle when you live in the humid continental north. Quite a few seem to have gotten into their heads that snow and ice will somehow render a Light Rail Vehicle completely ineffective. Light Rail has been wildly popular in both Minneapolis and Calgary. They have lower average temperatures and approximately the same amount of snow fall. The Metro Transit system in Minneapolis also uses Bombardier as a supplier for their Light Rail Vehicles

Myth: Light Rail Transit Is Not For Big and/or “World Class” Cities.

This is just such  an easily disprovable one I don’t even know where to start: How about with all the large cities around the world that have light rail and are putting in light rail? I’m sorry this list is going to get long.

Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Houston, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Kiev, Lima, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City, Minsk, Moscow, Osaka, Oslo, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Shanghai, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Sydney, Tokyo, Vienna, Washington D.C. …

Seriously, I’m bored now. Almost every major city in the world has some type of light rail system that acts as either the basis of their public transportation system or to supplement subway systems.

Only one I can think of that’s not on this list? New York, and their discussing putting one in/ reviving one.

The lone concern?

Construction. It sucks and people hate it, however it’s worth the inconvenience, given the benefits.

Links for further reading:

The Big Move, Metrolinx

Tell your Councillor you support Transit City!

What is light rail transit?

Meet your new ride.

*One man’s gravy is another man’s sustenance?
**Unfortunately every source has a different number for this things, I haven’t even bothered posting them. It could be that 1/3 is rail only and 1/6 includes the added expense of building subway stations.