I feel like no matter which party comes to power after the election Ottawa will see a good dose of funding for their transit plans. Given that phase 2 is pretty much a lock it will be interesting to see what phase 3 brings. There are certainly way more questions and scenarios up in the air on...

Hilarious and almost painfully possible to see that actually happening. Ultimately I agree that SmartTrack as it stands is a half thought out plan. Right idea. Poor execution of the details and lack of respect for the planning process. As lots of other people here have said this will likely...

Desperate electioneering. As much as I want better funding for transit I do agree it's a little odd, and not just because the CPC has been so dismissive of cities and transit. Whether it's the CPC or another party that puts such funding into effect (I'll leave politics out of it but I'm sure...

Couldn't agree more. If your goal is to make Pearson a truly multi-modal hub that captures all transit and all the various regional and intercity rail services it needs to be via a tunnel. Anything else will just be a janky user experience that people will not use. UP express will succeed...

A real rail station at Pearson is inevitable in the next 20 years. And by that I mean something along the lines of Schiphol were a tunnel heads under and creates a direct, super short connection with the rest of the terminal. Any other half baked idea where it's kind of close but not really just...

At this point I don't think such a proposal would be that bold. Barrhaven might be marginally tougher sell because of the section between Baseline station and Hunt Club. Even then I am sure most people would be in agreement that getting those sections done would make a lot of sense. Your...

I think what you will see is an acceleration to build out the first phases of the LRT network as fast as possible (so extending the line to Orleans, Baseline…possibly Fallowfield, Kanata, and then upgrading the Trillium line and likely interlining it into the rest of the network. Outside of...

Good to see they are knocking off these EAs at a reasonable speed. None of them are particularly surprising as most of the details have been worked out in some form or another over the years. Making it all official does bring a smile though. At this rate I would guess by this te next year...

Looks pretty solid overall. The more entrances they have the more it will be integrated into the downtown urban fabric. Yeah phase 1 isn't exactly huge but it's going to be super exciting to this line open and take off nonetheless.

Exactly. Brilliant work on their part to get people to see at as a "hybrid" option when it is clearly not. I don't think any of these options are the best option. I still think burying it is what should be done. But that is also several fold more expensive then these options being presented...

Ottawa seems to go in waves in terms of how much consultation it does and the quality of it. When it was covering the grand vision they did an excellent job. As they should have because they made a lot of big, long term decisions that affected how the city will grow and function in the next 50...

Ottawa seems to go in waves in terms of how much consultation it does and the quality of it.

Holy. You really get a good sense of just how much work was done in that corridor over the past few years from that video. It's great to finally see regional rail getting the love it deserves. I'm pretty excited to get to use UPX next time I fly into Toronto!

So your saying that not all LRTs are built the same and not all Metros look a like? Can that really be? Studies like that can be interesting but really don't offer much that can be applied on a general basis. Like you said, there are so many factors which can affect the cost and design of an...

Even though the parkway solution isn't quite as nice as going down Richmond and directly through a more built up area it's still not a bad choice by any means. Richmond is only a marginally better choice in terms of convenience and not worth putting up a fuss about. In the end they have a...