[Adjei]

I don't see how it's backpedalling. They are saying that SmartTrack should be a component of RER and should be integrated. You can improve RER to add the components of SmartTrack without a need for a separate service and branding which is nonsense and doesn't make sense.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I don't see how it's backpedalling. They are saying that SmartTrack should be a component of RER and should be integrated. You can improve RER to add the components of SmartTrack without a need for a separate service and branding which is nonsense and doesn't make sense.

All they did was reword their previous statement to make it sound less harsh.

 

[sixrings]

SmartTrack was the centrepiece of his campaign. SmartTrack likely convinced enough people to vote for Tory so that he could beat Ford by a narrow margin. I recall seeing many posts from former Chow/Soknaki supporters saying that one of the reasons they'd support Tory is because of SmartTrack.

Without ST, Tory likely wouldn't be mayor today. So he has better find a way to deliver his promise of surface subways, or his opponents in the 2018 election are going to hammer him on breaking the #1 promise of his campaig.

The center of Torys campaign was that he was not a drunken crack head conservative named Rob Ford but he was the clean cut conservative people really wanted. That was the campaign in a nutshell.

 

[Adjei]

I think people are overestimating how many people voted for tory based on his transit plan.. I'm sure most voted for the most likely to beat ford. Similarly people voted for Ford because of his tax cuts not his subway plan

Besides you can vote for someone without supporting their entire platform. I voted for Tory but it doesn't mean I support SmartTrack. This is how we end up with the likes of Ford Nation who swallow up whatever their leader tells them without thinking for themselves.

 

[nfitz]

The center of Torys campaign was that he was not a drunken crack head conservative named Rob Ford but he was the clean cut conservative people really wanted. That was the campaign in a nutshell.

I don't think it was. Tory tried to play down the Conservative connection and his history of being a rather unusual non-socially-conservative right-wing Tory.

SmartTrack was part of this.

 

[sixrings]

Well the options were a super right FORD a center Tory or a super left Chow... I think Tory won because he wasn't super left. Maybe I think better of people but the idea that we are going to have smarttrack, an express service, without a premium charge on GO tracks sounds beyond fishy to me. The DRL is and has been known to be the answer for years. Perhaps people voted partially for Tory and smarttrack because it was a cheaper version of a DRL. I just think the person who appeared to be the person to not raise taxes but not be a crackhead was going to win over Chow who many thinks (rightfully or wrongfully)would double taxes. Personally I would have voted for Chow and her plan if I thought she had a chance to win. Instead my wife and I voted for Tory. Not because of his policies but because he had the best chance to beat Ford. To deny that a large segment of people strategically voted to get Ford out is naïve.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

To deny that a large segment of people strategically voted to get Ford out is naïve.

Nobody here has denied that.

 

[sixrings]

Nobody here has denied that.

perhaps but I do think some are underselling how many voters voted for Tory to make sure Ford would not get in. (which means a substantial amount of people may have voted for someone not even looking at their transit policy or any of their other policies.

Really you would need to have a poll of Tory voters finding out did they vote for Tory because it was strategic, because of smart track, because they didn't want chow, etc.

 

[salsa]

Without ST, Tory likely wouldn't be mayor today. So he has better find a way to deliver his promise of surface subways, or his opponents in the 2018 election are going to hammer him on breaking the #1 promise of his campaign.

Tory had a perfectly good option of allowing a gracious folding together of the RER and ST plans as a first step, with a clear understanding that there could be a second round of improvements. Instead he is bulling ahead with his original scheme and continues to spout the same lies despite extensive criticism. Going for broke with the original plan guarantees failure.

 

[robmausser]

In the ongoing battle in figuring out what exactly is Smart Track, Metrolinx now appears to be backpedalling from their previous position that Smart Track is "unworkable".

View attachment 57094

I'm wondering how much it has to do with Metrolinx and more to do with anti-Tory news reporters and papers misappropriating what Metrolinx is saying.

Metrolinx: "We are integrating all of the features of Smarttrack into RER"

Reporter: "So...Smarttrack is dead?"

Metrolinx: "no..thats not what-"

Reporter: "SMARTTRACK IS DEAD GUYS! TORY LOST!!"

 

[salsa]

Steve Munro posted two new articles about Smart Track:
1. http://stevemunro.ca/2015/10/16/smarttrack-update-many-reports-many-unanswered-questions/
2. http://stevemunro.ca/2015/10/17/playing-fast-and-loose-with-smarttrack/

The first one is an overview of the reports that recently came out which pretty much say what we knew all along. The second one addresses the FAST advocacy group, where Munro not only destroys all their lies but also exposes the people behind it for the Tory shills that they are. This whole scheme stinks to high heaven and appears to be driven entirely by lobbyists, developers and political forces who continue to rabidly defend Smart Track despite all its problems. Not only that, but now I also learn more about this particular consulting firm who have been tasked with preparing population and employment forecasts (which will affect ridership and tax increment financing):

Office space projections are provided by a sub-consultant, SRRA, who were responsible for the SmartTrack scheme in the first place. Of particular importance, this is the same consultant who in another study claimed that office growth downtown (and in many older areas of the city) was dead, and that all the new growth would come in the suburbs in areas (surprise!) that SmartTrack would serve. This begs the question of whether the figures actually reflects trends that have been evident with a shift in both population and employment to more urban areas. There is supposed to be a separate report on future office development from SRRA at a later date.

Development projections have been cocked up in the past for political reasons, and I will not be surprised if the same thing happens here too. An older article by Munro provides a more detailed overview of the incompetence of these consultants whose work resulted in the creation of Smart Track. I think it's time that we fight back by forming our own group called CAST (Citizens Against Stupid Transit).

 

[rbt]

I think it's time that we fight back by forming our own group called CAST (Citizens Against Stupid Transit).

STHAP IT

Smart Track Has A Problem, Ignored by Tory

 

[Rainforest]

Tory had a perfectly good option of allowing a gracious folding together of the RER and ST plans ...

And he still has that option. So far, he did not make any public statements to the contrary.

 

[Napoleon]

Tory had a perfectly good option of allowing a gracious folding together of the RER and ST plans as a first step, with a clear understanding that there could be a second round of improvements.

From reading (ok, well lets call it deep skimming) the reports, I see very little way that these can be combined without very integrated planning. De facto folding it together seems the only possibility at this point, which was my main take away from the Metrolinx documents.

 

[gweed123]

I honestly don't understand why Tory would fight this. All he needs to do is hold Metrolinx' feet to the fire to make sure that ST+GO RER actually happens. He can still claim victory without doing much of the legwork. If there is any surplus funding that was to be devoted specifically to ST that is no longer needed, he can direct that to other transit projects in the city.

To obstruct this because it's no longer "under his roof" would be foolish.