CodeRedTO:
Warning about Bad Decisions

On the day he took office Rob Ford tried to cancel Transit City, a project to build fast, reliable and affordable light rail transit (LRT) in the areas of Toronto that need it most: the suburbs. The province had $8.4 billion to spend on three rapid transit lines on Finch West, Sheppard East and Eglinton, a plan that would be fully funded by provincial taxes to help our region.

Instead of building three rapid transit lines in Toronto’s suburbs, Mayor Ford negotiated with the province to bury the Eglinton-Crosstown line for its entire length, leaving Finch, Sheppard and Malvern with no rapid transit. Worse, this negotiation included Toronto paying massive cancellation fees, as work on Transit City was already underway. The province estimated that cancelling Transit City would cost the city at least $65 million. Added onto that another $70 million to buy new buses since Finch and Sheppard would soon be over capacity.

Modified image courtesy Toronto Environmental Alliance, and is used with permission. torontoenvironment.org

Subways

Everyone wants subways, of course, but building them is expensive and slow. Above-ground LRT is already paid for and could be ready very soon; the original Sheppard East line would have opened in 2014. Delays can lead to residents of Sheppard and Finch not getting rapid transit for decades. Council’s decision on February 8 2012 to reaffirm support for Finch, Eglinton and SRT replacement lines using modern LRT was smart, timely, and will bring rapid transit faster.

Streetcars

LRT isn’t the same as a streetcar. Instead of single cars that run in “mixed traffic” along with cars and trucks, Transit City’s light rail is made up of short trains that can hold over 750 people (250 per LRV) and run on their own right-of-way (beside the road, or on the centre median). The vehicles can travel faster, have all-door boarding like a subway, can reverse direction like a subway, and can even control the traffic lights for added speed. LRT provides most of the service of a subway at a fraction of the cost. Traffic isn’t affected like it is with streetcars and buses.

In places where there isn’t room for dedicated rights-of-way, Transit City tunnels underground. This was planned for almost 12km of Eglinton between Black Creek and Laird, and also under busy intersections like Eglinton and Don Mills. Mayor Ford’s unnecessary idea was to extend that tunneling into Scarborough even though there’s room to expand the roadway, wasting money that was originally budgeted to give rapid transit to hundreds of thousands of people on slightly speeding up just one section.

Learn more about the differences between streetcars and LRT at humantransit.org.

Traffic

Mayor Ford’s attempted cancellation of Transit City would have made traffic much worse. Over 750 people can fit in an LRT train, taking hundreds of cars off the road. And since they run beside cars, not among them, traffic keeps flowing even when dozens of LRT vehicles are operating.

Money

Mayor Ford’s attempted agreement with the province would have cost Toronto at least $65 million in cancellation fees for a transit system that serves fewer Torontonians, instead of having the province cover the whole cost.

Because the TTC wouldn’t have had the province’s money to buy large LRT vehicles for the people on Finch West and Sheppard East, Toronto would also have to have spent hundreds of millions of dollars buying new buses and building bus storage facilities. This doesn’t even mention the cost of running 5-10 buses instead of 1 LRT vehicle.

Transit City could cost Toronto $0, but the cancellation of Transit City would have cost Toronto hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s a lot of gravy.

Save Transit City

Transit City is the right solution for Toronto’s suburbs. Too many rapid transit plans have been cancelled over the years, and meanwhile the buses remain full. Mayor Ford preaches austerity, but his unilateral cancellation of Transit City was a bigger waste of money than any previous mayor has managed.

Council has voted to retain Transit City, but they need to hear from you about what you want to see next. Contact your Councillor today. Tell them you want rational, affordable, rapid transit for all of Toronto.

Who is CodeRedTO.com?

CodeRedTO.com was started by three Toronto residents concerned about transit options and fiscal responsibility in transit expansion. There is no outside funding or direction on this group or this website whatsoever. We have not met with any City Councillor, any Transit agency, or any construction or design groups. We do not live along the path of any proposed light rail or subway lines. We work in technology, urban design, and market research. We can be reached at info@coderedto.com.