What Mr. Rob Ford says is a pure absurd that contradicts the development of the modern world. I am afraid he is not aware what’s going on OUT THERE. Let’s help him.
A short piece of the world transit history - a list of systems that have been opened since 2000:
Buenos Aires (Argentina, 2007)
Ottawa (Canada, 2001)
Vancouver (Under Construction)
Changchun(China, 2003)
Chemnitz (Germany, 2002)
Nordhausen (Germany, 2004)
Rotterdam-Den Haag (Netherlands, 2006)
Almada (Portugal, 2006)
Porto (Portugal, 2002)
Stockholm (Sweden, 2000)
Bergen (Norway, 2010)
Aulnay-Bondy* (France, 2007)
Angers (France, 2010)
Aulnay-Bondy (France, 2007)
Bordeaux (France, 2003)
Caen (France, 2004)
Clermont-Ferran (France, 2006)
Le Mans (France, 2007)
Lyon (France, 2000)
Montpellier (France, 2000)
Mulhouse (France, 2006)
Nice (France, 2007)
Orleans (France, 2000)
Paris (France, 2007)
Toulon (France, 2009)
Toulouse (France, 2010)
Valenciennes (France, 2006)
Athens (Greece, 2004)
Dublin (Ireland, 2004)
Cagliari (Italy, 2008)
Messina (Italy, 2003)
Padova (Italy, 2006)
Sassari (Italy, 2006)
Barcelona (Spain, 2004)
Bilbao (Spain, 2002)
Murcia (Spain, 2007)
Parla (Spain, 2007)
Santa Cruz Tenerife* (Spain, 2007)
Sevilla (Spain, 2008)
Velez-Malaga (Spain, 2006)
Vitoria (Spain, 2008)
Glattal (Switzerland, 2007)
London (UK, 2000)
Nottingham (UK, 2004)
Stourbridge (UK, 2009)
Camden–Trenton*(US, 2004)
Charlotte (US, 2007)
Houston (US, 2004)
Hudson-Bergen (US, 2000)
Minneapolis (US, 2004)
Glendale (US, 2007)
Portland (US, 2001)
Seattle (US, 2008)
Tacoma (US, 2003)
Caracas (Venezuela, 2009)
Valencia (Venezuela, 2007)
Adana (Turkey, 2009)
Antalya (Turkey, 2009)
Bursa (Turkey, 2002)
Eskisehir (Turkey, 2004)
Keyseri (Turkey, 2009)
Germany hasn’t been opening the streetcar systems that often as… it already has 66 (!) of them. And none of the streetcar systems has been closed there during last 30 years. Basically, nowhere in Europe or North America they’ve been closed at that time. Now a list of systems closed since 2000:
Baku (2004, Azerbaijan)
Tbilisi (2006, Georgia)
Ivanovo (2008, Russia)
Voronezh (2009, Russia)
Arkhangelsk (2004, Russia)
Astrakhan (2007, Russia)
Ryazan (2010, Russia)
Shakhty (2002, Russia)
Makiivka (2006, Ukraine)
Yerevan (2004, Armenia)
Impressive?
There are 5 major reasons why all cities are developing streetcar/light rail systems.
1) Higher capacity resulting in lower traffic. Mr. Ford's proposal will increase traffic congestion. For example, it would require 20-30 additional buses to replace The 504 King Streetcar only.
2) Affordability. Serving the city as a light metro they are much cheaper allowing to cover much bigger area for less money.
3) Reliability as they usually have private right-of-way. Exactly what they are going to do at Transit City.
4) Environmental issues. No pollution at all. Mr. Rob Ford is feeding people with a myth of "clean buses" which have been non-existent. I was told at TTC they are going to replace hybrid buses with diesels as the latter ones are more reliable.
5) They are quiet and comfortable. If you don't believe just visit any other city or wait until the first Bombardier cars will appear at Toronto Streets.
Where is going to be Toronto that used to admire visitors with its own face and its own heritage? For instance, the 501 streetcar route is enlisted by National Geographic as on of the Top-10 most beautiful and picturesque routes in the World.
Streetcar abandonment stopped a long time ago – its well known fact unless you are stuck in 1950s. Now Toronto is on the edge of the modern development. According to Mr. Rob Ford the place of Toronto is in the company with Baku and Yerevan. All the development in Europe or Canada or United States means nothing to Mr. Ford who is ready to sacrifice everything just for a couple of extra-votes. I call this right extremism which inevitably leads to degradation and stagnation.