News   Aug 07, 2024
29-Storey Tower Proposed North of Dundas West Station
 975     1 
News   Aug 07, 2024
Untitled Toronto and 100 Broadway Ascending Side-by-Side in Midtown Toronto
 925     0 
News   Aug 07, 2024
News Roundup for August 7, 2024
 539     0 

2018 Provincial Election Transit Promises

I believe that leaves the SSE with 2.97B or 380 short, if current estimates hold.
 
Is Finch West funded? Would any of this new money go toward that line?
 
TheTigerMaster said:
So the City will be receiving 4.89 Billion from the feds. That's 40% of the total amount, thus the total amount is $12.25 Billion. But we have to subtract the federal contributions to the SSE and SmartTrack, which total $1.24 Billion and $660 Million respectively. So that's $10.35 Billion in new money.

From the Star article:
Council has advanced five priority transit projects, which together are estimated to cost at least $17.5 billion.

They are the Scarborough subway extension, SmartTrack, the relief line subway, Eglinton East LRT, and Waterfront LRT network.​

The SSE and SmartTrack are already funded from a pool of money separate from the $10.35 Billion in new money. So that $10.35 Billion can be used for DRL, EELRT and Waterfront LRT. It looks like there is enough money to fund all three. This is all assuming that the city ponies up it's $3.3 Billion contribution (which is part of the $10.35 Billion total).

I'm unsure of the status of the Eglinton West LRT. Is that considered part of the SmartTrack funds? If it is, then we're golden.

Anyways this is a really good day for Toronto. The challenge will be generating that $3.35 Billion in a reasonable timeframe. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Assuming all of this remains accurate, it's great news.

I'd hope all of these are put towards new projects that require funding. In other words, if the SSE keeps ballooning in cost, this money should not be available to increase the budget. Either it stays within the current budget, or they have to come up with a new solution.

With this funding, we can now get moving on the DRL.

I can't imagine Ford keeping these funding promises if he's elected though.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
I believe that's already taken care of via some SmartTrack/GO funding that was announced several years ago during the Trudeau campaign.
Click to expand...

Nitpick.... I don't believe anyone has agreed to fund the portion west of the City. There was an assumption that City of Mississauga and or GTAA would fund some part of the extension to Pearson. See City Council Report from 2016

- Paul
 
I hope the new funding will cover Sheppard East LRT. Does that seem reasonable?
 
TheTigerMaster said:
SELRT is already funded (supposedly).
Click to expand...

But in reality it likely isn't, no? I hope some of the new funding can help with Sheppard East (or Jane for that matter). Although I'm torn between tearing another chunk of the limited pot of money for one of the Transit City lines or hording everything for the DRL to push it as far north as possible.
 
It's great to see Ottawa is not funding by population but rather by per-capita usage. Brampton shouldn't get as much money as Toronto per-capita just as Sarnia shouldn't get as much as London. I see the cost of each projects but what about RER? Will it come out of 906 funding? If so that hardly is fair to the 906 as Torontonians themselves will also be benefitting from RER. ST funding will certainly cover the majority of costs on the Stoufville/Kitchener line but none on the RER from Lakeshore to River Rouge.

This of course requires Toronto to bite the bullet and actually start paying for it's infrastructure as opposed to looking to Queen's Park to pay for everything. More than that though is that this funding requires Toronto to also get it's act together and start building within 2 years MAX for all the potential expansions instead of setting up royal commissions on every bloody line going.
 
Last edited:
Sandpit said:
From a transport perspective, yes. But HSR to London is really meant to be a economic stimulus project. London's population is expected to plateau by 2030, at which point it risks going through a long period of economic stagnation/decline much like the Rust Belt cities in Ohio across the lake (in fact, some say that Southwestern Ontario is already the Canadian Rust Belt, with its decline in manufacturing). The idea is to "save" London by essentially turning it into a suburb of Toronto with the HSR line. The line is supposed to be completed sometime around 2030 and hopefully make London a more attractive place to live.
Click to expand...


I don't know where you are getting your stats or idea from but they don't relate to reality.

Yes London has a significant manufacturing sector but not a huge one as it still remains mostly a medical, insurance, academic, and government driven economy. London is still a predominately a white collar city. Also London's population is growing at 1.6% per year which is one of the faster rates in the whole country and has one of the nation's strongest housing markets. Unemployment is low, wages are rising, disposable income is very high due to relatively cheap housing, the city is finally attracting more immigrants especially from Latin America, and it's high-tech sector is starting to blossom around the medical sector which is a real strength for London. The downtown core is booming with high rise constructio and London remains a regional centre for schools, healthcare, government services, shopping, and entertainment.

London, and particularly it's downtown, are doing better and growing faster than it has in decades and is expected to continue to grow as other areas {particularly rural & northern} begin to suffer from population decline.
 
Neutrino said:
But in reality it likely isn't, no? I hope some of the new funding can help with Sheppard East (or Jane for that matter). Although I'm torn between tearing another chunk of the limited pot of money for one of the Transit City lines or hording everything for the DRL to push it as far north as possible.
Click to expand...

Small nitpick on Sheppard East. The Federal contribution was moved to cover Finch. So there may be a shortfall.

There is a difference between “funded” ie mentioned in budgets as an approved expense in future years - ie money that hasn’t reached government coffers yet, so hasn’t gone on its books - and “funded” as TYSSE was - money raised and placed in a trust accout, that can’t be spent on anything else, and is part of the accounting for a fiscal year that has already concluded.

I am very cautious about anything government says is budgeted for the future until contracts are signed and money is in the bank. That’s why the fine print of hese bilateral agreements need to be made public. Oops, tax cut. Sorry, money won’t arrive as we expected. Not gonna borrow. Defer to future years. So sad.

- Paul
 
Neutrino said:
But in reality it likely isn't, no? I hope some of the new funding can help with Sheppard East (or Jane for that matter). Although I'm torn between tearing another chunk of the limited pot of money for one of the Transit City lines or hording everything for the DRL to push it as far north as possible.
Click to expand...

I believe this line was "delayed" significantly only to keep the capital funds in a placeholder and I also remember some funding being redirected to Finch. Im not sure there is enough support to build LRT to stub west of McCowan to resurrect this line. Without a doubt we will have another long debate before any transit gets built on Sheppard. Even Tory has often mentioned he believes the subway will be extended to connect to the stub in the future. Better chance we see the EELRT extended somewhere into Malvern under this new funding pool but not the SELRT.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top