News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 02, 2020
 8.4K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
 39K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
 4.7K     0 

Toronto is choking itself on red tape. Never would have thought that places like Brampton, Whitby, and Innisfil would have more ambitious transit plans, but here we are I guess.

Politicians in TO basically have their seats set in stone (minus riding removed by Ford). Bottom line Its bascailly the same faces in council here for life.

The circular planning game that has gone on here for decades is simple. Announce a plan, study it to death, cut some corners, defer timelines, cut a few more corners until it divides residents (cars vs.public transit, wealthier areas vs. poorer areas, DT vs. Burbs etc) to the point the plans get delayed, and soon after cancelled. Then start over or do the bare minimum for a cheap photoshoot.

There is really minimal ambition or collective drive to unite and grow the City for the future with any form of detailed planning. This is what it is, they really dont even try to present plans that unite the City whatsoever and often planning is done with such a narrow lens looking at only a handful of areas while many others are left behind. I really believe term limits on Toronto Councilors would help to provide more creative, energetic and less politically entrenched minds but dont believe in a million years see them agreeing to cut their own 'jobs for life'. Sadly this nonsense is the culture we have, and it will continue
 
Last edited:
I have to agree with OneCity on this: councillors absolutely lack ambition or vision - or even desire to change. Plus, every process seems designed to slow change down even more: endless consultations, reports, multiple committees. I was genuinely excited for ranked ballots because I thought it'd allow for some new voices at Council. Even that's gone now.
 
Go to link for more information on the Innisfil GO Transit Hub.

40010-132754.jpg

40010-132752.jpg

40010-132749.jpg

40010-132747.jpg

LOL - is Innisfil the new Dubai?
 
Who wants to live in a condo all the way out in Innisfil?

If you're going to live that far out at least get a house with a backyard lol.
 
Who wants to live in a condo all the way out in Innisfil?

If you're going to live that far out at least get a house with a backyard lol.

The way this property bubble is going—a detached house even way out of Toronto may no longer be affordable.
 
I'd gladly snap up a condo in Innisfil if it's relatively affordable. Most detached houses selling in my neck of the woods are slipping into the $800K range, and even new townhouses are going for over $500K. Innisfil, Bradford, Barrie, Alliston etc are not what they were ten years ago. I have little doubts that the Orbit plan will go forward based on future demand; I'm more skeptical about its ability to attract high-tech industries and not become a high-density suburb for Toronto and possibly Vaughan/Barrie/Newmarket.

The only way to develop at this point - not just in Toronto, but practically everywhere in the GTA - is upwards. That's why there need to be plans in place to accommodate the region's future, not simply its present. Of the 20 most travelled corridors, which of them do we need to make full-on BRT as soon as possible (Ellesmere for example), which ones will have their demand absorbed by other routes, and which ones should we just paint lanes so we have a space visually reserved for an LRT?

The current plans aren't even enough for the short term, judging by the speed of implementation (or lack thereof), and it's good to see community groups picking up on that and demanding better.
 
Steve Munro is very knowledgeable, but I have to say - at times I wonder if he has anything positive to say, or any solutions whatsoever.

After many years of reading him, I think I can recite the most common issues raised:
  1. Lack of operational funding
  2. Incompetent TTC management (including poor metrics selection, tracking, etc.)
  3. Bad headway management
  4. Savings through frequency reduction
Let me be clear: these are real issues, and I'm sure he's right - but what can we do to fix that, or at least reduce the perverse incentives?
 
Steve Munro is very knowledgeable, but I have to say - at times I wonder if he has anything positive to say, or any solutions whatsoever.

After many years of reading him, I think I can recite the most common issues raised:
  1. Lack of operational funding
  2. Incompetent TTC management (including poor metrics selection, tracking, etc.)
  3. Bad headway management
  4. Savings through frequency reduction
Let me be clear: these are real issues, and I'm sure he's right - but what can we do to fix that, or at least reduce the perverse incentives?

The trouble remains that Steve Munro is very much more knowledgeable about public transit than most of the commissioners on the TTC board, AND at city council. The commissioners and councillors unfortunately tend to ignore any input from Steve Munro.
 
Steve Munro is very knowledgeable, but I have to say - at times I wonder if he has anything positive to say, or any solutions whatsoever.

After many years of reading him, I think I can recite the most common issues raised:
  1. Lack of operational funding
  2. Incompetent TTC management (including poor metrics selection, tracking, etc.)
  3. Bad headway management
  4. Savings through frequency reduction
Let me be clear: these are real issues, and I'm sure he's right - but what can we do to fix that, or at least reduce the perverse incentives?
Go to his site and look up 'Grand Plan' (iirc) and I think that's where his Toronto transit solutions are posted
 
In a report to next week's Executive Ctte meeting.........

The City proposed to spend over $300,000 on a needlessly complex, redundant study of its own plans.

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-164970.pdf

Route specific consultation makes sense; its a way to correct for having cut the wrong bus stop.

But consulting on the over-all plan, is just wasteful.
 

Back
Top