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2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Transit Plans

ehlow said:
We'll see what happens. Some of the things on that report were not extremely expensive (like POP enforcement staff). It's not as impossible as you seem to be implying for some of the recommendations on that report to pass council.
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When we're dealing with a budget hole that is nearly a half billion dollars, that money has to come from somewhere, even if it's only a few million dollars. That will result in either cut services elsewhere, or increased taxes. John Tory is a politician, not a miracle worker.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Yeah of course. But I still find your optimism completely misplaced. Whether or not bus services are improved will depend of if Tory and City Council prioritizes keeping taxes low over improving social services. Given that Tory is a fiscal conservative and that keeping taxes at the current rate of inflation will provide a quick political win for Tory, I expect him to prioritize maintaining our ridiculously low taxes, at the expense of social services, including the TTC. After Torontonians see just how bad things will get because of our low taxes in 2015, then maybe Tory will be more open to the tax increases, above the rate of inflation, that our city so desperately needs.
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Personally I prioritized improving TTC services over Tory's rebranding of our GO RER plan. This is one of the major reasons why I decided to vote for Chow on Sunday. Tory's campaign focused too much on maintaining low taxes and on Tory's rebranding of GO RER and very little on improving the services we already have. On the other hand, Chow was the only one willing to admit that taxes would need to be raised above the rate of inflation, and she clearly put a higher priority on maintaining our transit operations than Tory has.

Toronto has voted for a mayor that hasn't put much of a priority on maintaining our transit services and for a mayor that unrealistically promises to keep property taxes at or below the rate of inflation. We'll most likely see the results of this decision in the form of transit services that are at or below the the disgracefully poor levels they're at today.
 
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It's great that Tory won.

Tory is the only one of the three that can build bridges which will need to be built. He can't be pidgeon-holed into being left or right and urban or suburban. He also has a very good and close relationship with Wynne and is on good terms with Harper to boot. Both of those relationships will be critical if Toronto is to get it's transit house in order.

Tory is not an ideal leader but he is a pragmatic one without any strong ideological bent. He is a safe bet and after the last 4 tumultuous years, that is something Toronto and Torontonians desperately need.

Smartrax is doable if it gets funding from Queen's Park and Ottawa and cooperation from Metrolinx such as taking over the UPX rail corridor for Smart Tracks. Shockingly it will be the latter that might be the most difficult as Metrolinx, for some unknown reason, seems intent on keeping the UPX as a luxury line but I think Queen's Park will put an end to that.

As far as not being receptive to new revenues, I don't recall hearing that. He has stated that property taxes will be kept to the rate of inflation but I never recall him saying anything about other potential revenue generators like a gas tax.
 
I won't believe anything until I see shovels. David Miller managed to get up to 30km of rapid transit start construction and it would have been a lot more if it weren't for Rob Ford delays and obstruction.
 
ssiguy2 said:
It's great that Tory won.

Tory is the only one of the three that can build bridges which will need to be built. He can't be pidgeon-holed into being left or right and urban or suburban. He also has a very good and close relationship with Wynne and is on good terms with Harper to boot. Both of those relationships will be critical if Toronto is to get it's transit house in order.

Tory is not an ideal leader but he is a pragmatic one without any strong ideological bent. He is a safe bet and after the last 4 tumultuous years, that is something Toronto and Torontonians desperately need.

Smartrax is doable if it gets funding from Queen's Park and Ottawa and cooperation from Metrolinx such as taking over the UPX rail corridor for Smart Tracks. Shockingly it will be the latter that might be the most difficult as Metrolinx, for some unknown reason, seems intent on keeping the UPX as a luxury line but I think Queen's Park will put an end to that.

As far as not being receptive to new revenues, I don't recall hearing that. He has stated that property taxes will be kept to the rate of inflation but I never recall him saying anything about other potential revenue generators like a gas tax.
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I would rather the property tax increase passed for Scarborough subway be directed towards Smartack
 
kEiThZ said:
Also interesting that it seems like Queen's Park and Tory may have already had some back channel or backdoor discussions. So all those claims about Smart Track being unachievable?
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It wasn't even hidden, considering the amount of support Liberal MPPs offered to Tory. You don't do that sort of thing without tacit approval from the sitting Premier.

AoD
 
The province/Metrolinx pays for, builds and plans all our transit lines, and Tory was the anointed one.

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_ha...ynne_offers_hallelujah_on_john_torys_win.html

“Hallelujah.â€

That was Premier Kathleen Wynne’s immediate reaction early Tuesday when informed by reporters covering her trade mission to China that John Tory had just won the Toronto mayoral race.

“What I know is that John will want to work with us,†she said, praising Tory’s SmartTrack transit plan that helped him win.
“‎I think it’s got a lot to recommend it. It’s something that we can work with.â€

Wynne, who has promised $15 billion for Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area transit expansion over the next decade, said Tory should also be able to‎ convince Prime Minister Stephen Harper to back more investment in the region.

“‎He is somebody who’s got good working relationships wi‎th both senior levels of government and that’s extremely important. We need a mayor in Toronto . . . who can work with the provincial government and the federal government.â€
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Hallelujah!
 
M II A II R II K said:
I won't believe anything until I see shovels. David Miller managed to get up to 30km of rapid transit start construction and it would have been a lot more if it weren't for Rob Ford delays and obstruction.
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That's kinda true; though the province wasn't strongly committed to transit city. Tory doesn't need to worry about renewing the streetcar or subway fleets at the same time either.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Toronto has voted for a mayor that hasn't put much of a priority on maintaining our transit services and for a mayor that unrealistically promises to keep property taxes at or below the rate of inflation. We'll most likely see the results of this decision in the form of transit services that are at or below the the disgracefully poor levels they're at today.
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Why is this keep being repeated? Tory has said that he isn't against it, but that he wants it to go through the budget chief before approving spending.
 
kEiThZ said:
Also interesting that it seems like Queen's Park and Tory may have already had some back channel or backdoor discussions. So all those claims about Smart Track being unachievable?
Click to expand...

Based on Wynne's reported comments after Tory was announced as the winner, it would certainly seem that way. Her initial response was apparently "Hallelujah". When asked about SmartTrack, her reply was "I think it's got a lot to recommend it. It's something that we can work with." (both according to tweets by Daniel Dale)

It certainly does seem like there's been discussion, even if it's informal, between the Premier's Office and Tory's team, if not between the two people themselves. I've said it before and I'll say it again: SmartTrack is merely a rebranding of a subset of the GO RER plan.
 
gweed123 said:
Based on Wynne's reported comments after Tory was announced as the winner, it would certainly seem that way. Her initial response was apparently "Hallelujah". When asked about SmartTrack, her reply was "I think it's got a lot to recommend it. It's something that we can work with." (both according to tweets by Daniel Dale)

It certainly does seem like there's been discussion, even if it's informal, between the Premier's Office and Tory's team, if not between the two people themselves. I've said it before and I'll say it again: SmartTrack is merely a rebranding of a subset of the GO RER plan.
Click to expand...

Yeah and since SmartTrack was the centrepiece of his platform, to the point where it was even on his lawn signs, he has a mandate to go a head and build it.

It obviously won't be exactly like what was proposed during the election once he negotiates with Metrolinx and studies are started, but the core ideas of using GO RER to provide subway-like service, adding more stations and pricing it attractively for local travel should be his priority.
 
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