SmartTrack (Proposed)

[ssiguy2]

I don't think the Eglinton portion will be built but was rather just a bone for Etobiko voters during the election.

I'm sure Eglinton will be an extension of the Crosstown to at least Renforth to meet up with the MiWay Transitway. SM will simply continue along the Georgetown corridor to eventually terminate at Malton. It will not cost anywhere near $8 billion even in Toronto's inflated transit prices. This is pretty basic stuff kids and how the whole 50km would even cost $5 billion would be beyond me. remember also that Toronto's piece of the pie {assuming QP & Ott contribute} will be less than a third that price as some of the line is in York Region which is their responsibility.

The only challenging part of the whole line is the also the most expensive and probably least useful.........Eglinton west.

 

[nfitz]

I don't think the Eglinton portion will be built but was rather just a bone for Etobiko voters during the election.

Promising a single station in Etobicoke was a bone?

 

[aquateam]

How could Mississauga voters vote in a Toronto mayor?

They can't vote, but they can donate to candidates and still get reimbused by the city.

Downtown infill stations, when they appeared, were things like idiotic "Union Station II" terminal at the Bathurst Yards. (If ST does one thing, hopefully it kills that off as an idea)

Please let Union Station II die. It's like forcing half the Yonge riders off at Summerhill station to fix the congestion at Yonge/Bloor station.

 

[LNahid2000]

Promising a single station in Etobicoke was a bone?

Scarlett/Jane and Airport Corporate Centre would be either very close to or in Etobicoke, so 3 stations.

 

[nfitz]

Scarlett/Jane and Airport Corporate Centre would be either very close to or in Etobicoke, so 3 stations.

Scarlett/Jane might be quite useful to Etobicoke residents. But the Airport Corporate Centre seems unlikely to be of much utility, except for a small cluster of townhouses nearby and handful of residents on the other side of the hydro easement, in the very low-density northern part of the Centennial Park neighbourhood. Anyone else would have to backtrack too far.

Still, compare to the 7 stations in Scarborough - and surely 8 if you want to count Danforth which is only a 15-minute walk for some Scarborough residents.

Etobicoke would be better served by instead trying to run SmartTrack along the Lakeshore West to Long Branch. Milton to West Mall. Or Kitchener to Woodbine. Or better yet ... all 3. You could run 15-minute service on all those lines ... call it GO RER or something ... and instead spend $500 million to extend the Eglinton Line to the Airport Corporate Centre.

 

[W. K. Lis]

How could Mississauga voters vote in a Toronto mayor?

From this link:

You can vote in Toronto’s municipal election if you are:

• a Canadian citizen; and
• at least 18 years old; and
• a resident in the City of Toronto; or
• a non-resident of the City of Toronto, but you or your spouse own or rent property in the City; and
• not prohibited from voting under any law

Terms you may need help understanding

• As a resident elector
  • Your residence is where you live. If you live in a municipality, then you are eligible to vote in that municipality's election. You are only allowed to have one residence.
• As a non-resident elector
  • If you live in one municipality, and own or rent property in another municipality, you are eligible to vote in each municipality's election.
• As the spouse of a non-resident elector
  • If your spouse qualifies as a non-resident elector in a municipality, then you can also vote in that municipality's election.

 

[BurlOak]

Please let Union Station II die. It's like forcing half the Yonge riders off at Summerhill station to fix the congestion at Yonge/Bloor station.

Isn't forcing half of Yonge riders off at Summerhill station to fix the congestion at Yonge/Bloor station similar to forcing 100% of SW bound riders (from SRT or SMLRT) off at Kennedy?

 

[aquateam]

Isn't forcing half of Yonge riders off at Summerhill station to fix the congestion at Yonge/Bloor station similar to forcing 100% of SW bound riders (from SRT or SMLRT) off at Kennedy?

It's more similar to if the SRT originally went to Yorkville but then they cut it off at Kennedy so that people could transfer to an unfunded and unbuilt Bloor-Danforth line that was primarily proposed as staying on Danforth avenue (as opposed to going up Danforth road).

I don't believe that Scarborough riders are too hard done by by the SMLRT considering:
1) Kennedy was being rebuilt for an across-the-platform transfer
2) They will have to "transfer" with the BD extension anyways since half the trains will be short turning
3) The extension to Malvern and potential interlining with SELRT/ECLRT would eliminate the bus-to-STC transfer for many riders.

 

[mdrejhon]

From this link:

For completeness, I also include Torontoians (people who live in Toronto) who commute to Mississauga, or have family/relatives there, or other Mississauga tie, and want the convenience. From that sense, cross-funding can occur across a city boundary for that common good, if voters vote that in. Maybe Toronto is involved for funding Airport Corporate for this SmartTrack cycle, but that a future cycle has Mississauga+Ontario+Federal fund a future SmartTrack extension, or even all four (Toronto+Mississauga+Ontario+Federal), such as Toronto funding extra SmartTrack trains needed to make a Mississauga extension possible, while Mississauga pitches in for a portion of line/station construction in the next decade or two. Many funding formulas exist... But with Mississauga unable to the fund their share of Hurontario LRT, this wouldn't be likely until a future budget in a good economy.

That said, I agree extending Crosstown LRT would be a simpler way to bring service into Mississauga -- especially if an option is presented that voters like in a possible future Eglington spur referendum.

 

[wopchop]

That said, I agree extending Crosstown LRT would be a simpler way to bring service into Mississauga -- especially if an option is presented that voters like in a possible future Eglington spur referendum.

A referendum is quite possibly the worst idea. In Ontario, a referendum must have more than 50% voter participation to be considered binding. Getting that kind of voter turnout in the GTA would be a miracle.

 

[W. K. Lis]

A referendum is quite possibly the worst idea. In Ontario, a referendum must have more than 50% voter participation to be considered binding. Getting that kind of voter turnout in the GTA would be a miracle.

From this link:

Horatio C. Hocken, made the underground issue the main plank of his campaign to become Toronto's mayor in 1910. On the same ballot, voters were asked: "Are you in favour of the City of Toronto applying to the legislature for power to construct and operate a municipal system of subway and surface street railway, subject to the approval of qualified ratepayers?" The results of the vote, which was held on January 1st, 1910 (at the time, and until the middle part of the century, municipal elections and associated referendums were held every year, on New Year's Day), were favourable, with voters supporting the proposal by a count of 19,268 to 10,697. However, the mayoralty was won not by Hocken but by George R. Geary, who had opposed subways due to their expense.

May not happen even with a referendum.

 

[mdrejhon]

A referendum is quite possibly the worst idea. In Ontario, a referendum must have more than 50% voter participation to be considered binding. Getting that kind of voter turnout in the GTA would be a miracle.

Hmm. Good point.
There must be a different mechanism, other than a referendum, to allow Tory to chop Eglinton without too much fallout.

 

[robmausser]

Hmm. Good point.
There must be a different mechanism, other than a referendum, to allow Tory to chop Eglinton without too much fallout.

We might not need one.

Some councillors are echoing the statements here that the Eglinton portion of Smarttrack should be LRT

https://nowtoronto.com/news/city-hall/john-tory's-smarttrack-under-fire/

 

[diminutive]

A referendum is quite possibly the worst idea. In Ontario, a referendum must have more than 50% voter participation to be considered binding. Getting that kind of voter turnout in the GTA would be a miracle.

How could a referendum ever be 'binding' in Canada? It would violate parliamentary supremacy. Even the Quebec Reference wasn't 'binding' in any legalistic sense.

 

[wopchop]

How could a referendum ever be 'binding' in Canada? It would violate parliamentary supremacy. Even the Quebec Reference wasn't 'binding' in any legalistic sense.

How so? The referendum would be put in place by the existing Parliament, or in a municipalities place, by it's council. That's not equivalent to a referendum on secession at all.

We did have a referendum in 2007 on Ontario electoral reform. The parliament of the day set it up. If it passed, the new government was to pass the new law. It didn't, so nothing changed.

It's not like some thirty party would hold a referendum, and then expect the government to fall-in-line.