Adjei said:
The YRNS concluded that the number of already committed/funded initiatives underway will increase the capacity of Yonge subway and divert existing and future riders to other corridors. These increases in capacity will accommodate growth until 2031, and offset the immediate need for the Downtown Relief Line until after 2031.

http://vivanext.com/blog/2015/12/17/subways-yes-our-network-will-include-subways/
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Clever phrasing.

By "after 2031" they mean sometime in 2031, because the YNSE will push 2031 Line 1 volume/capacity ratio to 98%. The person who wrote this article makes it sound like we don't need to plan for the Relief Line, when in fact we need to have it planned and approved today to have it ready for 2031.
 
Toronto is the reason the Relief Life is getting pushed to the back burner. They've spent years chasing useless endeavours such as the Sheppard subway, putting all of Eglinton LRT underground, and subways on Finch and now you have them chasing Smart Track. In order for transit to be built in this region, it needs political backers and politicians advocating for it because they control the funding. Instead of getting all the political support behind the Relief Line and making sure it gets built, they are all over the map. Each new mayor brings his own transit plan and messes everything up. Look at Misisssauga, everybody from the politicians to the bureaucrats have all been advocating for the Hurontario LRT and it's no surprise its getting built. York Region has been pushing the Yonge North extension as their main transit project and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets built. Ditto for Kitchener and Hamilton, sure there were disagreements among politicians and residents but the LRT's there have been their main projects being pushed forward and it's no surprise that they are being built. Toronto demonstrates everything that is wrong with transit in this region, politicians coming drawing lines on a map and screwing everything up.
 
If only John Tory hadn't tried so hard to stand out from the crowd during the campaign that was championing for a proper Downtown Relief Line built underneath heavily populated city streets as opposed to distant rail corridors, and directed $8 billion towards that, none of this would be happening.

That $2.6 billion he secured from Harper (which I believe Trudeau is honouring) could have seen construction start in as little as five years from now, just as the Crosstown is finishing up. What ifs.
 
Smart Track isn't even a project unless it runs on Eglinton West because Metrolinx RER was always going to deliver frequent rail service on the rest of the route. There are a lot of studies around RER.
 
EnviroTO said:
Smart Track isn't even a project unless it runs on Eglinton West because Metrolinx RER was always going to deliver frequent rail service on the rest of the route. There are a lot of studies around RER.
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I guess the billions Trudeau is committing to Smart Track is a figment of my imagination. Why aren't those billions being redirected at the Relief Line if it's such a priority for the city. Smart Track is an even more of a vague idea than the Relief Line is but somehow the city feels the need to go ask for billions in funding from the feds for it.
 
I think it's fairly obvious that SmartTrack is going to be completely absorbed by the province's GO RER project and electrification. It's completely irrelevant on its own. And the Eglinton West portion is a non-starter - you'll see the Crosstown LRT extended along there instead.
 
Towered said:
I think it's fairly obvious that SmartTrack is going to be completely absorbed by the province's GO RER project and electrification. It's completely irrelevant on its own. And the Eglinton West portion is a non-starter - you'll see the Crosstown LRT extended along there instead.
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Exactly. Expect a joint press conference with Wynne and Tory next year announcing that SmartTrack is part of GO RER and the city is suddenly on the hook for more funding than it would have been otherwise... Win-win: Province spends less on RER than it had to previously, and Tory saves face for his next election (that IS what he cares about most, after all).

The real losers are the citizens of Toronto- we have to pay more for a provincial transit plan that primarily serves the 905, and the Relief Line gets continuously pushed back.
 
I assumed they will ask for money for the relief line when the studies are done hopefully early next year? It's not like anyone voted for or against funding the relief line yet right?

I'd assume money promised for infrastructure from province and federal would be available for any transit project.
 
Adjei said:
I guess the billions Trudeau is committing to Smart Track is a figment of my imagination. Why aren't those billions being redirected at the Relief Line if it's such a priority for the city. Smart Track is an even more of a vague idea than the Relief Line is but somehow the city feels the need to go ask for billions in funding from the feds for it.
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The only new thing is that the city made a Metrolinx project their priority and so now they are trying to figure out how to get funding to accelerate the project that was happening anyways. Trudeau committing millions to Smart Track doesn't change anything about whether or not it is a new project. RER and Smart Track are the same thing except for a portion which may or may not occur on Eglinton West. RER was discussed by Metrolinx long before the John Tory mayoralty race and Toronto's commitment to it might be new but the project is not.
 
ehlow said:
I assumed they will ask for money for the relief line when the studies are done hopefully early next year? It's not like anyone voted for or against funding the relief line yet right?

I'd assume money promised for infrastructure from province and federal would be available for any transit project.
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No, nobody has voted against any funding. However, there is a very finite pool of funds at all 3 levels of government. The fact that more municipal funding will be going to pay for what the Province has already agreed to fund is not a good sign for the Relief Line. Here's to hoping that someone makes it a political priority (Adam Vaughan? Trudeau? Toronto Council? Who knows?), because that's how transit works in this town.
 
torontologist said:
No, nobody has voted against any funding. However, there is a very finite pool of funds at all 3 levels of government. The fact that more municipal funding will be going to pay for what the Province has already agreed to fund is not a good sign for the Relief Line. Here's to hoping that someone makes it a political priority (Adam Vaughan? Trudeau? Toronto Council? Who knows?), because that's how transit works in this town.
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That finite amount of funding is now the largest amount of funding ever available for Toronto and Canadian municipalities. There is more than enough to fund the DRL if a funding request goes out in the next few years.

As for municipal funding going towards Smart Track, we don't know if any will be dedicated to Smart Track yet. For all we know, the Province will agree to fund it 100% as it has for Hamilton's LRT and Mississauga's LRT, but allow Tory to claim responsibility for making it happen so he can save face on Smart Track.

At the end of the day, Smart Track/RER is a great thing for Toronto and the GTA. If Toronto managed to speed up implementation thanks to Tory, that's still a positive for the city.
 
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It just seems premature to me to act like the Relief Line was stopped or cancelled while they are determining the route, studies are under way and haven't asked for funding yet.
 
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