denfromoakvillemilton
Senior Member
doady has always supported the eglinton subway. He supported the Scarborough subway.
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Surely not ... I don't travel to most cities in the world, and I've noticed over the years that the BRT tunnel in downtown Seattle now has LRT trains running in it too. Currently sharing with buses, but after the next LRT extension, I've heard it will be LRT-only.Ottawa is the first case on the planet to do the conversion iirc
^because there is $11 billion on top of this that is needed just to balance the budget. $2 billion is around 1.5% of the annual budget, but $13 billion is closer to 10% and suddenly isn't such small change.
Plus there is the fact that they are looking for DEDICATED funding, meaning that Metrolinx will finally be out of control of politicians hands to a certain extent. to take the money out of the budget would be to continue the process of the last 30 years where projects only get funding every once in a while on politicians whims in ridings they want to win.
The deficit didn't stop McGuinty from instituting all day daycare to the tune of 1.5-2 billion per year (IIRC). If I remember correctly (the cost of daycare) we could slash that and follow the Drummond report on increasing class sizes and you have your 2+ billion for transit.
This is also why I'm hesitant to support transit taxes, it appears to me, the Liberals only decided they needed increased revenue when they added this last item (transit) to their wishlist.
Go read the Drummond Report, it even recommends these transit taxes or fees:The deficit didn't stop McGuinty from instituting all day daycare to the tune of 1.5-2 billion per year (IIRC). If I remember correctly (the cost of daycare) we could slash that and follow the Drummond report on increasing class sizes and you have your 2+ billion for transit.
This is also why I'm hesitant to support transit taxes, it appears to me, the Liberals only decided they needed increased revenue when they added this last item (transit) to their wishlist.
no, you would have $2 billion off of the deficit. Again, come back to me when you have found $13 billion.
Ugh. The Sheppard East and Finch West LRT lines really need to happen. If Hudak's PC party becomes the next government, his choice to cancel those lines would be just like when Harris pulled the plug on the Eglinton West subway. That's not how you build transit.
Ahh but you see that is a minor point that everyone has no problem with, it is the problem of the "wasting of 1.1 billion" that gets everyone yelling and screaming. You could easily come up with a $3 billion + figure for the cancellation of the lines, if Sheppard gets built, and it would be the EXACT same situation the liberals got bitten in the ass for. come into power, cancel a project. Claim minimal cancellation costs (probably around $200 million) at first, and relocate the funding elsewhere (to the sheppard subway). Get auditor generals report out, looking at long term costs as well, and viola, hundreds of millions if not billions extra come up! Exact. Same. Scenario. just replace the words "gas plant" with "LRT", and you get the situation exactly, but with probably much larger numbers.
I think it's interesting how by cancelling suburban LRTs he plans to win suburban ridings...
Go read the Drummond Report, it even recommends these transit taxes or fees:
“While general tax revenues will also be a certain source of funds in the foreseeable future, jurisdictions elsewhere are looking at alternatives: congestion charges, comprehensive road tolling, high-occupancy/toll (HOT) lanes, regional gas taxes and parking surcharges. Each produces various incentives that require thoughtful analysis and consideration. However, without clear input from citizens, striking the right balance of these measures will be near impossible,†it reads.
It recommends engaging citizens in an open, public dialogue on how to best create new revenue sources for future transportation capital needs.
http://www.obep.ca/pub/Drummond-rep...ansit-reform-recommendations-for-Ontario.html