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stevedean said:
He didn't have to commit to anything though - that's what I find interesting.

It's not like this promise is not going to sway voters - and as I've said in the past, the majority of his base is in the 905/Rural areas and most could care less whether the line opens on Eglinton.

So the fact that he's actually stating 2025, when he has never given a date in the past, makes me think it's realistic.
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I don't know how realistic the date is, but I also don't think that the Crosstown is nearly as contentious of a political issue as a lot of this forum thinks it is. Unless you live directly on Eglinton Avenue or trawl one of these types of online forums I don't think even many Torontonians care very much, at most it will be a "ha, these (unprintables) are on their 14th year of construction?" and then they move on with their lives.
 
stevedean said:
Getting a lot of laughs from the "superstars" again - this site is always a little clique who can never accept a different opinion.
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No one comes onto discussion forums anywhere to be swayed to change their preconceived opinions and POVs. Yes, we can appreciate and learn from others and build upon our experience and understanding on a topic; but to accept a different opinion, meaning to throw out your own and accept another’s? No chance. Have you ever read anything here that’s fundamentally opposite to what you feel, and said, I’m now in their camp? Nonsense.
 
T3G said:
I don't know how realistic the date is, but I also don't think that the Crosstown is nearly as contentious of a political issue as a lot of this forum thinks it is. Unless you live directly on Eglinton Avenue or trawl one of these types of online forums I don't think even many Torontonians care very much, at most it will be a "ha, these (unprintables) are on their 14th year of construction?" and then they move on with their lives.
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Bang on. Plenty of those people also don't know that TTC and GO are separate entities and that they're operated by different levels of government, let alone which ones. I know some smart and thoughtful people who just have no idea because it's simply not an interest of theirs. A friend of mine thought that the Bloor-Danforth subway line will shut down once the Ontario Line opens.
 
Admiral Beez said:
No one comes onto discussion forums anywhere to be swayed to change their preconceived opinions and POVs. Yes, we can appreciate and learn from others and build upon our experience and understanding on a topic; but to accept a different opinion, meaning to throw out your own and accept another’s? No chance. Have you ever read anything here that’s fundamentally opposite to what you feel, and said, I’m now in their camp? Nonsense.
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I think that's true only if you define opinions as belonging to camps instead of forming opinions based on finding out facts and incorporating them as you go along.
 
Admiral Beez said:
No one comes onto discussion forums anywhere to be swayed to change their preconceived opinions and POVs. Yes, we can appreciate and learn from others and build upon our experience and understanding on a topic; but to accept a different opinion, meaning to throw out your own and accept another’s? No chance. Have you ever read anything here that’s fundamentally opposite to what you feel, and said, I’m now in their camp? Nonsense.
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I'm not looking to convince other people of my opinion.
Would just be nice if the senior "superstars" didn't jump on different opinions and squash them like they almost always do.
 
TTCriders, a membership-based transit advocacy group, released the following statement in response to Premier Ford’s promise that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT will open in 2025:

From https://www.ttcriders.ca/transit_group_reacts_to_2025_crosstown_opening_promise

“Promised opening dates have come and gone before. Transit riders are looking for answers and credible opening dates for the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRTs,” said TTCriders spokesperson Nigel Morton. “After nearly 14 years of construction, billions spent, and hundreds of millions in extra payouts to private companies, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is still not open. And if you think that’s bad, when the LRT is finally open to the public, those same private companies will be responsible for maintaining it for the next 30 years.”

“Transit costs have skyrocketed under Metrolinx and the public can’t get basic answers about why long-overdue LRTs aren’t open. That’s why we are asking all provincial parties to give the TTC back control over running Toronto transit, to keep costs down and increase accountability.”

A new study from the University of Toronto School of Cities found that “agencies that rely more on external consultants for design, planning, engineering, and management experience higher soft costs than those that rely on in-house staff for the same services.”

Crosslinx Transit Solutions, the consortium building the Eglinton Crosstown, has a 30-year maintenance contract for the LRT. The Crosslinx consortium is made up of some of the same companies that form Rideau Transit Group, which built the Ottawa LRT and also has a 30-year maintenance contract. A public inquiry into two Ottawa LRT derailments found that public-private partnership is “dysfunctional” and that poor maintenance and quality control by a subcontractor of the private consortium was to blame for the second derailment.

TTCriders is holding a rally to open the Crosstown LRT on February 19, 2025. Transit riders will call for answers about why provincially-owned LRTs are not open and seek commitments from all provincial parties to permanently fund the operating costs of new LRTs, clear the TTC’s repair backlog, give the TTC back control to run Toronto transit projects, and chip in for the Eglinton East and Waterfront East LRTs.
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Admiral Beez said:
I’m in China this week. I think they built the equivalent of two Crosstowns during my short stay. I jest, but they sure know how to get things done here.
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The thing with China is first off they are incredibly disciplined people and second they’ve done it so many times now (replicated their public transport systems in various cities) that’s it’s become muscle memory for them.

Over time I would expect Metrolinx to start functioning like a well oiled machine. But it seems like they keep tripping over one coffee table after another.
 
Admiral Beez said:
I’m in China this week. I think they built the equivalent of two Crosstowns during my short stay. I jest, but they sure know how to get things done here.
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The Chinese are the asian equivalent of the amish where building things are concerned.

Everyone knows their role, you have thousands of people working on things and things get built very quickly.
 
6ixGod said:
The thing with China is first off they are incredibly disciplined people and second they’ve done it so many times now (replicated their public transport systems in various cities) that’s it’s become muscle memory for them.

Over time I would expect Metrolinx to start functioning like a well oiled machine. But it seems like they keep tripping over one coffee table after another.
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It's like with the RCN and warship procurement. We assemble the various parts and people to get the project planned, designed and executed, but once it's done the parts and people are dispersed and we start all over again, losing any learnings. I wonder if anyone who worked on the O-Train is now working on the Crosstown? It seems to me that every ML project is dealt with in isolation.
 
Admiral Beez said:
It's like with the RCN and warship procurement. We assemble the various parts and people to get the project planned, designed and executed, but once it's done the parts and people are dispersed and we start all over again, losing any learnings. I wonder if anyone who worked on the O-Train is now working on the Crosstown? It seems to me that every ML project is dealt with in isolation.
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If they had in-house engineering and design expertise, they’d at least retain best practices between projects and maintain institutional knowledge.

Of course you outsource the construction itself, and specific pre-construction work like surveying and soil sampling. But turning everything over to various one-off consortiums is a terrible way to go.
 
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