Electrify
Senior Member
I take it that you didn't read the comments section on the Sun website in regards to this story. They're overwhelmingly in favor of more subways, and for good reason too. The tradeoff must always be made between initial capital costs and long-term savings. Torontonians lose millions of dollars per day in lost productivity due to being stuck in traffic which road-median, mixed-traffic streetcars contribute heavily into.
Several cities, many of which are far more car oriented than Toronto, have had fantastic success with ROW light rail and bus lines. Even if you cannot widen the road and have to invest one lane for transit, that lane can move the capacity of several lanes. My issue with Transit City is with stop spacing too close, so that it will not attract enough choice riders away from driving along arterials and highways.
Also worth noting that many of these same people posting on the Toronto Sun's website are the same people who scream murder at any and all taxes. This also includes Rob Ford. These people want the most expensive transit technology available, yet god forbid they have to fund it (they want the Bear Patrol, but don't want to pay taxes for it )
Mapleson said:Why do people insist on this artifical divide between people. All it does is feed stereotyping partisanship. It's easy to support something you'd not fund and doubt anyone else would want to do so. For example, to say you are anti-euthanasia of the handicap would most likely be true. However, does anyone really intend to commit genocide?
It's easy to say "I'm for free icecream for everyone!" I'm about as socialist as they come, but without sound financial plan, it's either going to cost us more money in the long run or it's never take-off in the first place. It doesn't matter level of government does the collecting and spending, we are always the ones that pay in the end.
Assuming you have a crystal ball and can see that it is an empty promise, it is still generally a very liberal position. Even today in many US cities, the debate is over highways and transit rather than which kind of transit. Look up Randy O'Toole if you want to learn more.