Mmmm, defends how you define "successful." It's true David Miller was appearing on the cover of Time Magazine etc. but all the systemic issues we've seen the last few years, from terrible councilors getting reelected to ineffectual integrity laws, existed back then. Mammoliti and Ford were saying stupid things on council, it's just that most of us weren't paying such close attention.
I forget all the details of Vancouver's governance system but my recollection is that it's superior in most ways. They have at-large councillors, for one thing, which is huge when it comes to someone other than the mayor speaking for the whole city, and it makes it harder for the Mammolitis of the world to get elected in the first place.
Toronto was considered a successful, even model government, under Metro. At least from the 50s through the 80s, anyway. Amalgamation didn't destroy this on its own; the problem was combining that with giving the city more to do and no resources to do it. That's a discussion for another forum, I suppose, but Rob Ford didn't start this. He's a symptom of bigger problems, some of which the city cannot fix on its own.
The really ballsy thing would be if someone actually did this with roads. What if you (for example!) tolled the DVP and Gardiner (for starters) but with very low tolls from 5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. and then jumping up until 9:30. Would that cause companies and workers to shift the rush? Helping the rush on the subway is a good idea but it's pointless if you don't apply the same logic to the real sources of congestion which, you know, are cars.
The really nutty part of it is that you could use the money collected from those tolls to build more transit! And then there would be more room on the subway! I think I just invented this crazy idea.
Really, a few bold, game-changing ideas of any kind would be nice.