kEiThZ
Superstar
I have two issues with this plan:
1) It's not really a transit plan in as much as it is a summary of previous transit plans. It's more a funding idea.
2) Any transit plan that relies on a broke provincial government and a federal government that's unwilling to commit to regular funding of municipal infrastructure is dead on arrival. And unless you get an NDP majority in Ottawa, I consider it highly unlikely that any Liberal or Conservative government will change course and start plowing billions into municipal infrastructure. From their perspective, they vacated territory in the tax structure and they expect provinces to up that room if necessary, or cede that ground to municipalities.
Comparing recent transit politics in Toronto and Ottawa (I'm in the process of moving from the latter to the former over the coming weeks), I'm struck by how utterly cowardly Toronto politicians are. In Toronto, the entire debate was about how to spend billions of provincial dollars. Not a single thought given to how much the city could pitch in to bolster the plan. Sheppard for example, could have been built as a subway, if the city was willing to contribute over and above provincial and federal funding for the corridor. Or that money could have even gone to further LRT expansion. In Ottawa, a city with far higher property taxes than Toronto, the city will be paying at least a third of the cost of their $2.1 billion LRT, and picking up cost overruns.
It leaves me with the conclusion that my hometown deserves its current morass. A political class that is absolutely unwilling to invest political capital in proper infrastructure expansion (resulting in useless debates on HRT vs. LRT). And a citizenry that is so selfish, that despite paying some of the lowest property taxes in the province, they are unwilling to stomach modest tax increase to pay for the necessary infrastructure. If there's a place that deserves 1 hour long commutes. It's Toronto.
1) It's not really a transit plan in as much as it is a summary of previous transit plans. It's more a funding idea.
2) Any transit plan that relies on a broke provincial government and a federal government that's unwilling to commit to regular funding of municipal infrastructure is dead on arrival. And unless you get an NDP majority in Ottawa, I consider it highly unlikely that any Liberal or Conservative government will change course and start plowing billions into municipal infrastructure. From their perspective, they vacated territory in the tax structure and they expect provinces to up that room if necessary, or cede that ground to municipalities.
Comparing recent transit politics in Toronto and Ottawa (I'm in the process of moving from the latter to the former over the coming weeks), I'm struck by how utterly cowardly Toronto politicians are. In Toronto, the entire debate was about how to spend billions of provincial dollars. Not a single thought given to how much the city could pitch in to bolster the plan. Sheppard for example, could have been built as a subway, if the city was willing to contribute over and above provincial and federal funding for the corridor. Or that money could have even gone to further LRT expansion. In Ottawa, a city with far higher property taxes than Toronto, the city will be paying at least a third of the cost of their $2.1 billion LRT, and picking up cost overruns.
It leaves me with the conclusion that my hometown deserves its current morass. A political class that is absolutely unwilling to invest political capital in proper infrastructure expansion (resulting in useless debates on HRT vs. LRT). And a citizenry that is so selfish, that despite paying some of the lowest property taxes in the province, they are unwilling to stomach modest tax increase to pay for the necessary infrastructure. If there's a place that deserves 1 hour long commutes. It's Toronto.
