MoveOntario 2020

[299 bloor call control.]

I'm not sure about that LI Mike -- if I depended on GO Lakeshore and had the option of 12-car trains every hour vs. 2/3 car ICTS-GOALRT every 2 minutes, I would much prefer the latter.

 

[unimaginative2]

I completely agree, 299 bloor. It would actually have been better than that. GO-ALRT cars were much bigger than the ICTS Mark I cars that they use on the Scarborough RT. They're closer in size to full subway trains. The GO-ALRT trains could have had 6 or even 8 cars. 8 car trains every two minutes would easily exceed the capacity of 10-car bilevels every twenty minutes.

 

[DENTROBATE54]

Instead of 2 escalators, you'll have one escalator and a long walk down a corridor. Big improvement.

How long are we talking here, like the interchange at Spadina? Anyway if some of the empty mezzanine space was redesigned, most of the current stairs/escalators and elevator could lead directly upto the new station. Seriously the mezzanine doesn't have to be so large. Furthermore it'd allow for a better interchange with the GO station and future Transit City lines.

I was reading the old Eglinton West study. West of Jane, Eglinton has that wonderful wide strip of open city-owned land that was intended to be the other half of the Richview Expressway. It's now called the Eglinton Transportation Corridor. The TTC, however, felt that putting the subway in that transportation corridor wasn't a good idea.

Wow ! I wonder just what constitutes a good idea for the TTC? A subway could've more than ran at grade or elevated in that corridor from Black Creek onwards and gotten commuters to/from Pearson and the Spadina line within a half-hour.

Every potential Danforth extension alignment between the GO/RT corridor and McCowan has pros and cons, but, ultimately, any of them are satisfactory.

Probably the longest but most effective alignment would be east on Eglitnon, north on Danforth/McCowan into STC with intermediates at Brimley/Danforth and Lawrence/McCowan.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

I completely agree, 299 bloor. It would actually have been better than that. GO-ALRT cars were much bigger than the ICTS Mark I cars that they use on the Scarborough RT. They're closer in size to full subway trains. The GO-ALRT trains could have had 6 or even 8 cars. 8 car trains every two minutes would easily exceed the capacity of 10-car bilevels every twenty minutes.

Without a doubt. I know a lot of people who drive now where the biggest reason why they don't consider taking the GO is because it's so schedule dependent, unlike the subway where you can just go into the station whenever. Nobody wants to work late or do overtime or even go out for a drink after work when they have a GO train to catch.

 

[unimaginative2]

How long are we talking here, like the interchange at Spadina? Anyway if some of the empty mezzanine space was redesigned, most of the current stairs/escalators and elevator could lead directly upto the new station. Seriously the mezzanine doesn't have to be so large. Furthermore it'd allow for a better interchange with the GO station and future Transit City lines.

It wouldn't be quite as long as the interchange at Spadina. You can look on Google Maps. The new station would be south of the existing bend in the tracks, parallel to the railway line.

Wow ! I wonder just what constitutes a good idea for the TTC? A subway could've more than ran at grade or elevated in that corridor from Black Creek onwards and gotten commuters to/from Pearson and the Spadina line within a half-hour.

The TTC wanted to tunnel using tunnel boring machines under the empty land of the transportation corridor, instead of taking advantage of the vacant city-owned land to cut and cover, which is far cheaper according to every other transit authority.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Probably the longest but most effective alignment would be east on Eglitnon, north on Danforth/McCowan into STC with intermediates at Brimley/Danforth and Lawrence/McCowan.

It'd be less than 1 km longer than the Brimley & Lawrence 'straight line' path, and the same length as going up the RT's corridor.

 

[CapitalSeven]

Regarding the connection to the new RT platform at Kennedy, the report back in 2006 did include a simple drawing for the scheme that's been discussed on the last couple of pages. That idea, which would not reduce transfer times or distances at all, makes so little sense that I doubt anyone at the TTC has considered it for more than a couple of minutes.

A couple of postings on Steve Munro's site refer to ways of incorporating the platform into the mezzanine just above the subway platform - there's more than one way of doing this - which would be a significant improvement.

There must be someone with connections at TTC who knows what they're currently thinking of.

 

[DENTROBATE54]

It'd be less than 1 km longer than the Brimley & Lawrence 'straight line' path, and the same length as going up the RT's corridor.

If that's all someone should really push for that alignment being built. Both the intermediate stops would be very popular given the crowded bus routes (86/116), new townhouses and proximity to Eglinton GO at Eglinton and Scarborough General, Bendale and proximity to Cedarbrae at Lawrence. The STC stop could be alot further east of it's current location to nullify a separate McCowan stop and better interface with the 95 bus. In the long term I wouldn't mind seeing it continue up McCowan to Steeles, making a direct link with the 905.

A couple of postings on Steve Munro's site refer to ways of incorporating the platform into the mezzanine just above the subway platform - there's more than one way of doing this - which would be a significant improvement.

The mezzanine is a clear example of sprawling suburban terminus stops that inefficently utilize space (Wilson's even worse!). Most people move directly from bus/RT to train in droves either by the central or easternmost escalators (bypassing the mezzanine altogether) or the far left stairwell. Unless you want the bathroom or pay phones no one significantly needs most of the mezzanine area. The passage through to the retirement home is also wasteful. Since the number of walk-in customers is relatively small, the pay booth could easily be relocated for awhile and with use of the bypassing escalators, the mezzanine could be closed off to be public for about 3 months as the floors are fortified to support new tracks. By doing this the new station could be located either directly atop (eg. St Geogre) or adjacent to (eg. Bloor-Yonge) the subway station. Hope that helped !

 

[billonlogan]

Province and the Feds close to signing off on Infrastructure funding.


Ontario to get $7.9B for infrastructure

TheStar.com

November 07, 2007
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ontario is being promised $7.9 billion in infrastructure funding from the federal government but it remains to be seen whether the money will help launch the province's proposed $17.5-billion transit plan, government officials said today.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced yesterday that British Columbia was the first province to sign on to the federal government's new Building Canada plan, which will dedicate $33 billion over seven years for infrastructure projects.

A spokeswoman for Lawrence Cannon, the federal minister of transport, infrastructure and communities, said Ontario's share will be about $7.9 billion, but it must negotiate with the federal government on how the funding can be spent.

Ontario has been petitioning for months for the federal government to pay a third of the cost of its MoveOntario 2020 transit plan, which it boasts would be the largest transit investment in Canadian history and includes 52 projects and 902 kilometres of new or improved rapid transit.

Ontario could finally get that federal commitment but it depends on the negotiations, said Cannon's spokeswoman Catherine Loubier.

"We're giving them $7.9 billion and it just might be they decide to spend it all on transit but I don't know what the outcome of the negotiations will be," she said.

"(But) we're confident that what they have planned for MoveOntario 2020 is going to be answered in the infrastructure plan we've put forward, and we're actively in negotiations with them to make that happen."

But before any money is allocated, the province must satisfy the federal government that the plans fall in line with the principles of the Building Canada program, Loubier said.

The funding for the provinces is meant to focus on 15 priorities, including public transit, border crossings, highways, green energy, disaster mitigation, waste-water treatment, tourism, and sports and culture.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said today he still doesn't know if the federal funding will go toward the transit plan.

Ontario Public Infrastructure Renewal Minister David Caplan said he looks forward to finishing negotiations to secure the federal funding, although he doesn't know when that will happen.

"Certainly we've identified their fund, and we're very eager to get at it because we know our municipal partners need the investment into infrastructure," he said.

"I'm bringing options forward for the cabinet to consider in short order, and I'm very excited about it."

Loubier said the federal government hopes to finalize negotiations and have the funding allocated to all provinces by the end of the year at the latest.

 

[theman23]

It doesn't seem right that the province that makes up 40% of the population only ends up getting 25% of the money. Obviously there are other factors, but that money would only be enough to cover the 1/3 or MoveOntario 2020. What about other infrastructure projects? McGuinty needs to raise that PST and devote it to infrastructure projects.

 

[billonlogan]

McGuinty needs to raise that PST and devote it to infrastructure projects.

He promised not to raise taxes during the election campaign. You think he will renage on that promise again?
No matter how well intention he can spin it like the 'health tax', the man will lose whatever credibility he has left.


"We will not have to raise taxes, because we're in charge. We know exactly where we are," he said Sept 22, 2007 on Global's Focus Ontario.

McGuinty told host Sean Mallen that his decision to break that cornerstone promise and introduce the annual health tax of up to $900 was agonizing.

"I have a concern that people may not understand what motivated me to do that," the Liberal leader said.

"For me to have to break that promise was the most difficult thing I've done in 17 years of politics. I've got to tell you, I hated doing that," he said.

"That's now part of my record. I accept that. That's part and parcel of who I am."

 

[theman23]

I know what he promised, I just don't believe it was a good promise.

 

[ShonTron]

It doesn't seem right that the province that makes up 40% of the population only ends up getting 25% of the money. Obviously there are other factors, but that money would only be enough to cover the 1/3 or MoveOntario 2020. What about other infrastructure projects? McGuinty needs to raise that PST and devote it to infrastructure projects.

I support equalization payments as required to bring all provinces up to a national standard on basic government services such as health, education and infrastructure. I don't even mind a little extra for things like economic development. It's just that it's gone too far in the other direction, and some of the resource rich "have-nots" want their cake and eat it too in terms of resource revenues. I really think the formula needs a major tweaking, but otherwise support the concept. I expect Ontario to get less than its share of transfers. It is slowly being shifted slightly in Ontario's favour, apart from the special side deals.

 

[allabootmatt]

$5 says Ottawa finds a way to exclude Transit City from the infra package.

 

[unimaginative2]

I know what he promised, I just don't believe it was a good promise.

Unfortunately, everybody knew it was a bad promise last time, too, but look at the hysteria (and I mean hysteria -- take a look at months worth of Sun headlines) that greeted his new tax.