[Amare]

Torys not an idiot. Anyone who looked at his plan including himself for more than five minutes knew it wasn’t possible. But he also knew it would get him elected. That’s no different than one Ford who managed to get himself mayor and another Ford who managed to get himself premier on similar transit promises which they too knew were going nowhere. Two fords too dumb to run a family business but smart enough to make the rest of us look like real fools.

Tory truthfully believed his plan, dont let him make you think otherwise. He was so serious about SmartTrack, that he practically derailed the Downtown Relief Line by yanking staff from that project and putting to his fairy dusted dream.

He stated the Smarttrack would be up and running by the time the SRT would need to be replaced, and he utterly failed at that. He realized halfway through that it wouldnt be possible for SmartTrack to partially replace the SRT, so that's when he started pushing harder for the Scarborough subway extension.

I think you are assuming too much. Firstly, did Mikey even show any interest in running? He seems to be very quiet and hardly noticeable outside his riding. I'd expect a few of more outspoken councillors to give it a try in 2022.

Plus, Jennifer Keesmaat might try again. Running against the incumbent was hard, running against other contenders should be a lot easier.

And secondly, Mikey showed no opposition to Finch LRT being built right through his riding. Thus, hard to predict what his priorities will be if he decides to run for the mayor in say 2030, based on what Rob Ford's priorities were in 2010.

I think you missed my sarcasm responding to @toronto647 ....

 

[sixrings]

Certainly he isn't an idiot. But it should be noted that both SmartTrack and SSE were doable. Well, for the most part.

Heavy rail along Eglinton West was a no-go, and was duly discared soon after he got elected. But upgrades to the existing rail lines - why not? Many cities around the world run local-focused service on their mainlines; why couln't we do the same. All John Tory had to do is find a good technical expert or a small team of experts, and then support them politically.

SSE: think whatever you like about its merits, but John Tory inherited that project from the previous administration, and endorsed it himself. All he had to do is quickly produce realistic cost estimates, and then finalize a route that attains the goals and fits into the funding envelope. Instead, they spent 5 years publishing ever-growing cost estimates, failed to select a good route, ended up with a one-stop plan that made noone happy, and finally got overwritten by the province.

He supported sse to get elected and did absolutely everything to sabotage it once elected. Either he was incompetent which I don’t think he is or that was his plan the whole time. Even if it was doable he didn’t want to at the cost it was going to take.

 

[kamira51]

Scarborough subway is his brothers idea and that’s from over a decade ago. The shovels are not in the ground.

the Ontario line was just a rebranded drl which I’m thankful for but he didn’t invent it.

what are the other two projects the Ford proposed? Smart track was John Tory while go rer was the liberals baby.

So this just proved my point that you haven't been reading the news.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/transit-expansion-greater-toronto-area

Infrastructure Ontario, Metrolinx Shortlist Teams for Two of Three Ontario Line Contracts | UrbanToronto

Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx have issued two Requests For Proposals for two Ontario Line subway project procurement packages, having now shortlisted teams. They will be creating proposals for the rolling stock, systems, operations and maintenance package, and the South civil engineering...

urbantoronto.ca

 

[sixrings]

Tory truthfully believed his plan, dont let him make you think otherwise. He was so serious about SmartTrack, that he practically derailed the Downtown Relief Line by yanking staff from that project and putting to his fairy dusted dream.

He stated the Smarttrack would be up and running by the time the SRT would need to be replaced, and he utterly failed at that. He realized halfway through that it wouldnt be possible for SmartTrack to partially replace the SRT, so that's when he started pushing harder for the Scarborough subway extension.



I think you missed my sarcasm responding to @toronto647 ....

Taking people away from the drl file just furthers my point. Tory had no interest in building any expensive transit. And he did everything he could to slow the process to inflate costs and to hopefully get it cancelled. Meanwhile he managed to get the inexpensive projects comparatively speaking up and going. Eglinton and finch.

 

[sixrings]

So this just proved my point that you haven't been reading the news.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/transit-expansion-greater-toronto-area

Infrastructure Ontario, Metrolinx Shortlist Teams for Two of Three Ontario Line Contracts | UrbanToronto

Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx have issued two Requests For Proposals for two Ontario Line subway project procurement packages, having now shortlisted teams. They will be creating proposals for the rolling stock, systems, operations and maintenance package, and the South civil engineering...

urbantoronto.ca

That’s all the same project. The Ontario line which again is a modified drl. I’ll give him credit because I’m happy anything is being done. But You said “ three out of the four transit projects he proposed is close to getting shovels in the ground.” What are the four projects he proposed?

 

[Rainforest]

Mikeys priorities are to get paid the most amount of money with the most power with the least education and the least amount of work The most amount of work he ever did was changing his last name from stripe to Ford to get himself a job. What makes you think this person wouldn’t want to be mayor if the city was dumb enough to give it to him on a silver platter. You think he became a politician because he has priorities other then himself?

I have no idea at all about his personality, and this is one more reason to doubt he will even try running this time. He can't hope to get elected if noone knows him

Rob Ford did get himself a kind of recognition before Miller's departure. Not the kind of recognition you or I would want to earn, but a recognition nevertheless: Rob Ford was an established bad boy on the block.

Michael Ford? Just one of the humble local councillors, you need to enjoy reading the city press releases to even know his name and the riding he represents.

 

[Rainforest]

I think you missed my sarcasm responding to @toronto647 ....

Got it now

 

[Undead]

Considering the official plan for the new downtown up there is supposed to have a PRT system, and the only development the Markham half has ever seen is a mausoleum, not really.

Still, it's 15,000 units south of the 407 and probably 5,000 north of it. Similar in scale to the Golden Mile, VMC and Square One plans.

 

[kamira51]

I’m pretty sure David Miller was a Harvard graduate and lawyer.

ummm ok???

He supported sse to get elected and did absolutely everything to sabotage it once elected. Either he was incompetent which I don’t think he is or that was his plan the whole time. Even if it was doable he didn’t want to at the cost it was going to take.

Taking people away from the drl file just furthers my point. Tory had no interest in building any expensive transit. And he did everything he could to slow the process to inflate costs and to hopefully get it cancelled. Meanwhile he managed to get the inexpensive projects comparatively speaking up and going. Eglinton and finch.

I'm not sure if you're just baiting people or you believe this to be some sort of conspiracy theory

That’s all the same project. The Ontario line which again is a modified drl. I’ll give him credit because I’m happy anything is being done. But You said “ three out of the four transit projects he proposed is close to getting shovels in the ground.” What are the four projects he proposed?

Again with the bait, but I'll bite,

in his transport plan, he proposed the Yonge North Subway Extension, SSE, OL, and Eglinton West Extension.

 

[syn]

in his transport plan, he proposed the Yonge North Subway Extension, SSE, OL, and Eglinton West Extension.

These are not 'close' to being shovel ready.

The most 'shovel ready' plan they inherited was canceled (the DRL South).

 

[Rainforest]

He supported sse to get elected and did absolutely everything to sabotage it once elected. Either he was incompetent which I don’t think he is or that was his plan the whole time. Even if it was doable he didn’t want to at the cost it was going to take.

I think he was / is incompetent, unfortunately. Not incompetent across-the-board; he managed many aspects of his mayoral role fairly well.

But in those two cases, SSE and SmartTrack, he would have to either devote a fair amount of his own time, go into all details, and get it right. Or, find a reliable technical expert who can do that for him. And he didn't do either.

Cost was certainly a factor, but not an excuse. He didn't have to assemble all funding from scratch. He had the city's SSE surtax voted for before he took the office, as well as substantial provincial and federal funding commitments. Still not enough? He could alter the scope of SmartTrack, he could look at partly surface / elevated options for SSE. Potentially, he could try combining SmartTrack with DRL (using mainline rail for DRL), and he could evaluate the so-called SmartSpur (SmartTrack with a branch straight to STC).

Perhaps one could have tried all of the above and still not succeed, but he certainly didn't explore all options.

 

[JBR]

When the Scarborough RT shuts down in 2023, The TTC should paint the bus lanes red on either Kennedy or Midland from Eglinton to Progress and on Progress Ave to STC and designate them as BRT/RapidTO Lanes (bus only lanes) and designate the 60 buses needed as a Line 3 BRT/rapidTO bus service from Kennedy Station to STC stopping at Lawrence and maybe Ellesmere.

Ellesmere BRT is going to STC, extend it to Ellesmere station and pave the srt right of way from ellesmere to Kennedy.

 

[ARG1]

Scarborough subway is his brothers idea and that’s from over a decade ago. The shovels are not in the ground.

the Ontario line was just a rebranded drl which I’m thankful for but he didn’t invent it.

what are the other two projects the Ford proposed? Smart track was John Tory while go rer was the liberals baby.

First you have the Scarborough Subway which Ford upgraded from a 1 stop to a 3 stop extension.
Then you have the Ontario Line which while it is similar to the DRL, still uses a brand new allignment, design, and is greatly expanded over the DRL
Finally you have Eglinton West which is now fully grade separated. Remember, 3 years ago Eglinton West was still an at-grade median LRT. We went from that to commencing the boring of the underground allignment in 3 years. In Toronto time that is unbelievably fast.

 

[ARG1]

These are not 'close' to being shovel ready.

The most 'shovel ready' plan they inherited was canceled (the DRL South).

The Tree Clearing process for the Eglinton West tunnel bore launch shaft has already begun. The commencement of the construction of the tunnel bore shaft proper will begin this summer for both SSE and Eglinton West. Shovels are quite literally hitting the ground as we speak.

 

[JBR]

These are not 'close' to being shovel ready.

The most 'shovel ready' plan they inherited was canceled (the DRL South).

All will have shovels in the ground this year or next except for Yonge north; the tender is already out for SSE.