BurlOak
Senior Member
It was early 2012. https://stevemunro.ca/2012/02/29/sheppard-panel-to-recommend-lrt-not-subway/
It has been 5.5 years since council announced they are taking back transit from Ford.
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- Thread starter TheTigerMaster
- Start date
It has been 5.5 years since council announced they are taking back transit from Ford.
BurlOak
Senior Member
Isn't this exactly political reasons. At once it was funded for a certain year, and then the year was changed.
It was either politics to promise it early when it was known that it would not be needed, or it was politics now that it is deferred.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
Finch West was defunded because of the recession, not because the government wanted to be re-elected. Many long-term spending projects at both the federal and provincial level were delayed so that their money could be spent on economic recovery projects that have a much quicker turnaround.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Are you talking about 2015, when ML announced they were delaying Finch and Sheppard by several years. There was certainly no recession back then.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
Okay. They said "we're not going to build this now, we're going to build this in a few years." I guess that's nefarious political interference now. I'm done debating this.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
As of last summer, the Agence Régionale de Transport Métropolitain (ARTM) is overseeing all transit development in the Montreal region. Local municipalities will no longer be in control of the development of their respective transit system, which means that the government will no longer need political approval from multiple municipalities for the approval of transit projects crossing borders.
Time will tell if this agency is more effective than Montreal's old political system, and our own Metrolinx, or if it will a tool co-opted by politicians to interfere with and corrupt the transit building process.
Un métro de toutes les couleurs
Time will tell if this agency is more effective than Montreal's old political system, and our own Metrolinx, or if it will a tool co-opted by politicians to interfere with and corrupt the transit building process.
Un métro de toutes les couleurs
We do not want to play grumpy. So much the better if the candidates think about the necessary long-term development of public transport. So much the better if they provoke debates. Their ambition changes myopia.
But there's something a little odd about Project Montréal and the Montreal Coalition promising new subway lines. They forgot a little detail: it is not the City of Montreal that decides. The mayor has lost most of his power.
The candidates talk little about it, but there was a small revolution last summer thanks to the creation of the Agence régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM).
Network planning has been centralized and depoliticized. The mayors no longer control it, and that is for the better.
For years, the only rule was that of arbitrariness. Each elected one pulled the blanket on his side. There was no vision or consistency, no cost control, no timelines.
The best example is the fast bus service (SRB) on Pie-IX. At every stage of the project, the mayors and the transport agencies of Laval and Montreal had to agree, not to mention the boroughs and the ministère des Transports. Result: although the SRB was promised in 2009, construction has not yet begun.
It is to avoid such messes that the governance of public transport has been reinvented.
The number of public transit agencies in the region is increasing from fifteen to five, and their mandate is tightened. They are responsible only for services, not for planning. Gone are the cacophony of these 15 agencies that reinvent each network on their little corner table, according to their particular interests. ARTM is now solely responsible for network planning (financing, pricing and development). And to give him an overall view, he was depoliticized. Even though the mayor of Montreal sits there, the majority of its directors are not elected, which prevents the decision of a small group by electoralism. The role of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal is limited to voting on the policies of the agency. Alleluia.
POVERTY BLUE LINE!
Even more than the Pie-IX SRB, the extension of the blue line stagnates because of political incoherence. In the late 1990s, the Bouchard government "confirmed" the extension of the blue line to Anjou. It was already an "old file" at the time - this route had been promised in the 1980s.
In 2009, the Charest government went back and created a project office to examine which subway line should be extended. In 2013, the Marois government chose the blue line. Then, during the 2014 election campaign, the Liberals suddenly proposed to extend the orange line to connect the Côte-Vertu and Montmorency stations. And the improvisation continues in 2015, when Minister Poëti returns to the blue line to Anjou ... but relaunch studies to make an outdoor tram-train.
After more than 25 years without a major project, something happens in Montreal. We are preparing to launch the extension of the blue line, the Metropolitan Power Grid (REM) and the SRB Pie-IX. Several billions of yards, for which one is still waiting for the first shovelful of earth.
As Transport 2000 summed up last winter, there is no shortage of projects. It lacks only a plan to assemble these blocks.
It is in this context that the promises of candidates to the mayor's office arise.
Valérie Plante of Projet Montréal wants to add a pink line, linking Montréal-Nord to downtown. Details (cost, technology, stations) should be disclosed later in the campaign. Jean Fortier of Coalition Montreal wants to add another extension of the blue line, which would connect the northeast to the city center, called the line of knowledge.
So much the better if they provoke a debate on the lack of real services in these sectors, and so much the better if they dare to dream the metropolis of the next decades.
But we can not talk about "commitment" because it is not the next mayor who will decide whether a new metro line is needed. Since last June, this work falls to the ARTM. Nor is it the mayor who will pay; this is the Government of Quebec.
ARTM has just adopted the funding policy. It now has to develop a pricing policy and plan for network development, expected within about a year.
This is the work that awaits the new agency. It will work better if you remember it exists.
DEMAND SOLUTIONS
Should we bet even more on the subway? The tram or the tram-train? The buses ? Previously, politicians began by promising a vendor solution, and then commissioned the studies that justified it. The ARTM will reverse the reasoning. It will first define the needs and then look for the best way to respond.
For example, what do you do with the bus line 121 that links the Sauvé and Côte-Vertu stations, the busiest on the island? Should we replace it with an SRB or find another solution easier to implant?
WHO MUST PAY?
Valerie Plante and then Denis Coderre promised to improve the discount to lower income people (minor, student, senior). This responsibility now falls to ARTM. It should unveil a pricing policy for Greater Montreal by the coming year. This is necessary because the region has no less than 700 different titles and tariffs.
For example, for seniors, public transit is free in Laval, free of charge during rush hours in Longueuil, and at reduced prices in Montreal. Harmonization is required. To break the commitments piece by piece, the new agency should reframe the problem. First, by asking what percentage of the network should be financed by users (currently, it is a little less than one third of the costs). Then, by asking what criteria to offer a discount (age, income, student, etc.).
But there's something a little odd about Project Montréal and the Montreal Coalition promising new subway lines. They forgot a little detail: it is not the City of Montreal that decides. The mayor has lost most of his power.
The candidates talk little about it, but there was a small revolution last summer thanks to the creation of the Agence régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM).
Network planning has been centralized and depoliticized. The mayors no longer control it, and that is for the better.
For years, the only rule was that of arbitrariness. Each elected one pulled the blanket on his side. There was no vision or consistency, no cost control, no timelines.
The best example is the fast bus service (SRB) on Pie-IX. At every stage of the project, the mayors and the transport agencies of Laval and Montreal had to agree, not to mention the boroughs and the ministère des Transports. Result: although the SRB was promised in 2009, construction has not yet begun.
It is to avoid such messes that the governance of public transport has been reinvented.
The number of public transit agencies in the region is increasing from fifteen to five, and their mandate is tightened. They are responsible only for services, not for planning. Gone are the cacophony of these 15 agencies that reinvent each network on their little corner table, according to their particular interests. ARTM is now solely responsible for network planning (financing, pricing and development). And to give him an overall view, he was depoliticized. Even though the mayor of Montreal sits there, the majority of its directors are not elected, which prevents the decision of a small group by electoralism. The role of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal is limited to voting on the policies of the agency. Alleluia.
POVERTY BLUE LINE!
Even more than the Pie-IX SRB, the extension of the blue line stagnates because of political incoherence. In the late 1990s, the Bouchard government "confirmed" the extension of the blue line to Anjou. It was already an "old file" at the time - this route had been promised in the 1980s.
In 2009, the Charest government went back and created a project office to examine which subway line should be extended. In 2013, the Marois government chose the blue line. Then, during the 2014 election campaign, the Liberals suddenly proposed to extend the orange line to connect the Côte-Vertu and Montmorency stations. And the improvisation continues in 2015, when Minister Poëti returns to the blue line to Anjou ... but relaunch studies to make an outdoor tram-train.
After more than 25 years without a major project, something happens in Montreal. We are preparing to launch the extension of the blue line, the Metropolitan Power Grid (REM) and the SRB Pie-IX. Several billions of yards, for which one is still waiting for the first shovelful of earth.
As Transport 2000 summed up last winter, there is no shortage of projects. It lacks only a plan to assemble these blocks.
It is in this context that the promises of candidates to the mayor's office arise.
Valérie Plante of Projet Montréal wants to add a pink line, linking Montréal-Nord to downtown. Details (cost, technology, stations) should be disclosed later in the campaign. Jean Fortier of Coalition Montreal wants to add another extension of the blue line, which would connect the northeast to the city center, called the line of knowledge.
So much the better if they provoke a debate on the lack of real services in these sectors, and so much the better if they dare to dream the metropolis of the next decades.
But we can not talk about "commitment" because it is not the next mayor who will decide whether a new metro line is needed. Since last June, this work falls to the ARTM. Nor is it the mayor who will pay; this is the Government of Quebec.
ARTM has just adopted the funding policy. It now has to develop a pricing policy and plan for network development, expected within about a year.
This is the work that awaits the new agency. It will work better if you remember it exists.
DEMAND SOLUTIONS
Should we bet even more on the subway? The tram or the tram-train? The buses ? Previously, politicians began by promising a vendor solution, and then commissioned the studies that justified it. The ARTM will reverse the reasoning. It will first define the needs and then look for the best way to respond.
For example, what do you do with the bus line 121 that links the Sauvé and Côte-Vertu stations, the busiest on the island? Should we replace it with an SRB or find another solution easier to implant?
WHO MUST PAY?
Valerie Plante and then Denis Coderre promised to improve the discount to lower income people (minor, student, senior). This responsibility now falls to ARTM. It should unveil a pricing policy for Greater Montreal by the coming year. This is necessary because the region has no less than 700 different titles and tariffs.
For example, for seniors, public transit is free in Laval, free of charge during rush hours in Longueuil, and at reduced prices in Montreal. Harmonization is required. To break the commitments piece by piece, the new agency should reframe the problem. First, by asking what percentage of the network should be financed by users (currently, it is a little less than one third of the costs). Then, by asking what criteria to offer a discount (age, income, student, etc.).
jje1000
Senior Member
steveintoronto
Superstar
Looking forward to discussing this more. Must run, discuss later, jj's post also looks really good for discussion.
Is it a case of "out of the pot and into the fire"? Is the graft just shifted around, but the outcome remains the same?
drum118
Superstar
Metrolinx Board of Directors to discuss transit expansion progress at annual strategy meeting
TORONTO: October 20, 2017– The Metrolinx Board of Directors will meet on Thursday, October 26 to hear a number of updates at its annual strategy meeting as the agency continues to build more transit and improve transportation across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
A portion of the meeting will be open to the public and will be livestreamed.
Metrolinx Board Chair J. Robert S. Prichard and CEO Phil Verster will be available to media following the public session of the board meeting. Please note that the public session begins at approximately1:15 p.m.
Date: Thursday, October 27
Time: 1:15 p.m. - 2:40 p.m. (approximate times for public session)
Location: 97 Front Street West
Peter R. Smith Boardroom – 4th floor
NOTE: Board agenda and reports are available for download and viewing at metrolinx.com.
In the event you require a hard copy of the same reports posted online, please contact Metrolinx Media Relations (mediarelations@metrolinx.com or 416-202-5859) no later than October 24, 2017. Your report will be available for pickup on Thursday, October 26 at the Media Relations sign-in desk.
A limited number of hard copies will be available on site.
TORONTO: October 20, 2017– The Metrolinx Board of Directors will meet on Thursday, October 26 to hear a number of updates at its annual strategy meeting as the agency continues to build more transit and improve transportation across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
A portion of the meeting will be open to the public and will be livestreamed.
Metrolinx Board Chair J. Robert S. Prichard and CEO Phil Verster will be available to media following the public session of the board meeting. Please note that the public session begins at approximately1:15 p.m.
Date: Thursday, October 27
Time: 1:15 p.m. - 2:40 p.m. (approximate times for public session)
Location: 97 Front Street West
Peter R. Smith Boardroom – 4th floor
NOTE: Board agenda and reports are available for download and viewing at metrolinx.com.
In the event you require a hard copy of the same reports posted online, please contact Metrolinx Media Relations (mediarelations@metrolinx.com or 416-202-5859) no later than October 24, 2017. Your report will be available for pickup on Thursday, October 26 at the Media Relations sign-in desk.
A limited number of hard copies will be available on site.
drum118
Superstar
Dear participants:
Once again, Metrolinx and area municipalities will be hosting Accessibility Public Meetings across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, and we would like to extend a personal invitation for you to join us.
We want to hear from you about the accessibility of GO Transit, PRESTO, UP Express, and our new and upcoming Rapid Transit services and projects. The meetings in Hamilton and Whitby will be joint meetings with the City of Hamilton and Durham Region Transit respectively, so you will also have the opportunity to discuss the accessibility of municipal transit at those meetings.
We would also greatly appreciate your assistance sharing the information about the meeting nearest your community with your friends, colleagues, and others in your networks, to encourage their participation in the meetings. For those located further from a meeting location than they may feel practical to attend, we are also offering a teleconference option.
Hamilton: Monday, November 13, 6:00-9:00 PM
Hamilton Public Library, Central Branch
55 York Street
Hamilton Room (main floor)
* Note: this is a joint meeting with the City of Hamilton
Toronto: Thursday, November 23, 6:00-8:30 PM
Metro Hall
55 John Street
Rooms 308 & 309(third floor)
Whitby: Monday, November 27, 6:00-9:00 PM
Abilities Centre
55 Gordon Street
Theatre / Multi-Purpose Room (second floor)
* Note: this is a joint meeting with Durham Region Transit
Teleconference: Tuesday, December 5, 5:30-7:00 PM
Phone-in meeting; TTY will not be available
RSVP required; please submit questions and comments in advance of meeting
Teleconference details will be provided to registrants
At each in-person meeting, you will have an opportunity to:
·learn about past, current and future accessibility activities at Metrolinx and its operating divisions and business units;
·discuss and provide input to our accessibility initiatives through roundtable sessions; and
·interact directly with Metrolinx staff involved with accessibility projects.
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, real-time captioning and attendant services will be provided at the in-person meetings. Alternative formats and other accommodations will be made available upon request.
To help us prepare for the meetings, we are asking anyone who is interested in attending to register in advance, via the links on our Accessibility Public Meetings webpage(http://www.metrolinx.com/en/aboutus/accessibility/accessibility_meetings.aspx), via email (accessibility@metrolinx.com), or by calling 1-888-438-6646 or 1-800-387-3652 (TTY teletypewriters only). As part of the registration, we ask that you please identify which meeting you plan to attend, what accommodations you may require (if any) to participate fully in the meeting, and which topic area(s) you are most interested in discussing at the meeting (GO Transit, PRESTO, UP Express, Light Rail Transit/Bus Rapid Transit, municipal transit).
We hope you can attend, and would appreciate your assistance in further promoting these meetings through your networks.
Anyone wishing to participate but unable to attend a meeting can provide comments using the contact information below.
For more information, or to provide input, please contact our Accessibility Team via email at accessibility@metrolinx.com, or by phone at 1-888-438-6646 or 1-800-387-3652 (TTY teletypewriters only).
Sincerely,
The Metrolinx Accessibility Team
Once again, Metrolinx and area municipalities will be hosting Accessibility Public Meetings across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, and we would like to extend a personal invitation for you to join us.
We want to hear from you about the accessibility of GO Transit, PRESTO, UP Express, and our new and upcoming Rapid Transit services and projects. The meetings in Hamilton and Whitby will be joint meetings with the City of Hamilton and Durham Region Transit respectively, so you will also have the opportunity to discuss the accessibility of municipal transit at those meetings.
We would also greatly appreciate your assistance sharing the information about the meeting nearest your community with your friends, colleagues, and others in your networks, to encourage their participation in the meetings. For those located further from a meeting location than they may feel practical to attend, we are also offering a teleconference option.
Hamilton: Monday, November 13, 6:00-9:00 PM
Hamilton Public Library, Central Branch
55 York Street
Hamilton Room (main floor)
* Note: this is a joint meeting with the City of Hamilton
Toronto: Thursday, November 23, 6:00-8:30 PM
Metro Hall
55 John Street
Rooms 308 & 309(third floor)
Whitby: Monday, November 27, 6:00-9:00 PM
Abilities Centre
55 Gordon Street
Theatre / Multi-Purpose Room (second floor)
* Note: this is a joint meeting with Durham Region Transit
Teleconference: Tuesday, December 5, 5:30-7:00 PM
Phone-in meeting; TTY will not be available
RSVP required; please submit questions and comments in advance of meeting
Teleconference details will be provided to registrants
At each in-person meeting, you will have an opportunity to:
·learn about past, current and future accessibility activities at Metrolinx and its operating divisions and business units;
·discuss and provide input to our accessibility initiatives through roundtable sessions; and
·interact directly with Metrolinx staff involved with accessibility projects.
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, real-time captioning and attendant services will be provided at the in-person meetings. Alternative formats and other accommodations will be made available upon request.
To help us prepare for the meetings, we are asking anyone who is interested in attending to register in advance, via the links on our Accessibility Public Meetings webpage(http://www.metrolinx.com/en/aboutus/accessibility/accessibility_meetings.aspx), via email (accessibility@metrolinx.com), or by calling 1-888-438-6646 or 1-800-387-3652 (TTY teletypewriters only). As part of the registration, we ask that you please identify which meeting you plan to attend, what accommodations you may require (if any) to participate fully in the meeting, and which topic area(s) you are most interested in discussing at the meeting (GO Transit, PRESTO, UP Express, Light Rail Transit/Bus Rapid Transit, municipal transit).
We hope you can attend, and would appreciate your assistance in further promoting these meetings through your networks.
Anyone wishing to participate but unable to attend a meeting can provide comments using the contact information below.
For more information, or to provide input, please contact our Accessibility Team via email at accessibility@metrolinx.com, or by phone at 1-888-438-6646 or 1-800-387-3652 (TTY teletypewriters only).
Sincerely,
The Metrolinx Accessibility Team
drum118
Superstar
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Transit, health groups call for Metrolinx reform
Citing the controversial Scarborough subway extension as well as the approval two proposed new GO Transit stations that weren’t supported by internal reports, the coalition is calling for Metrolinx to “restore confidence in transit planning” by changing its governance structure.
The groups want that modified so that at least half of the board members are elected officials from municipalities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
The coalition is also recommending Metrolinx endorse revenue tools to raise money for the transportation plan, prioritize low-carbon mobility options and better align land use and transportation policies to discourage urban sprawl.
The groups want that modified so that at least half of the board members are elected officials from municipalities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
The coalition is also recommending Metrolinx endorse revenue tools to raise money for the transportation plan, prioritize low-carbon mobility options and better align land use and transportation policies to discourage urban sprawl.
jje1000
Senior Member
Steve Paikin Interview with Phil Verster:
amnesiajune
Senior Member
The "take politics out of transit planning" people want more elected officials on the Metrolinx board?
jcam
Active Member
I've heard suggestions that the current Board of appointees is more political (in that it bends to will of the province) than the old Board that had municipal political representation.