Does Toronto look to North America or elsewhere for inspiration for transit/infrastructure?

[W. K. Lis]

Wow! Who would have thought, streetcars for downtown.

Maybe Toronto should look into getting streetcars to improve its downtown.

Oh wait. Toronto's downtown is already improved. It already has streetcars. In fact, it bought 52 slightly used streetcars from Cincinnati in 1950 for US$750,000. See link.

 

[doady]

"Streetcar" is the traditional light rail, rather than the modern light rail ("LRT"). Cincinatti is among many cities in the US bringing back light rail.

Actually that Cincinatti "streetcar" seems pretty modern too. Maybe it is on good step toward a full light rail network.

But it seems pointless when they cut so much bus service over the years, resulting in a massive 43% ridership loss for system-wide since 1991. I'm sure the still-ongoing death of the bus network and increased demand for parking space has been far more detrimental to Cincinatti's downtown than the lack of "streetcar".

 

[W. K. Lis]

When a federal government really gets behind a city to build public transit.

From link.

The future transport network of Le Grand Paris will be based on a ring route system around the capital, connecting all parts of the Île-de-France region with each other and with Paris itself.

This unprecedented driver of economic and technological progress will provide connections between the three Parisian airports, the business districts and the science and technology hubs of the region, enabling people, ideas and goods to circulate more quickly.

By reducing existing spatial inequalities and bridging mobility gaps, the new transport network will make day-to-day life easier for people in the Île-de-France region, and the new development hubs it creates will help to spread prosperity more evenly – as well widening access to the jobs market.

Once the whole network is up and running, the Grand Paris Express will generate an additional €100 billion in GDP and more than 115,000 jobs in addition to those created by the natural growth of the region. Between 250,000 and 400,000 housing units will also be built around the 68 stations of the future metro system.​

Meanwhile, instead of housing units, the GTA is building parking lots around its new suburban stations.