News   Nov 22, 2024
National Housing Day: City of Toronto and Riverdale Co-op Open Affordable Homes
 620     1 
News   Nov 22, 2024
Bauhaus Condos Rising in Toronto's Old Town
 1.1K     5 
News   Nov 22, 2024
49-Storey Waterfront Tower Proposed at Spadina and Queens Quay
 2.9K     8 

Toronto Crosstown LRT | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

tnarduzzi said:
Am I wrong here or is one of the reasons why crosstown is wearing everyone down is sloppy project management... it didn't really click for me until I watched this video. The decrepit state of the entire stretch of Eglinton quite frankly has me pissed off.

View attachment 232394

If a sand barrel is broken... THEN REPLACE IT! If the pylons are crushed and cracked, throw them out and replace them. If signage is knocked over then pick it back up. If there are massive and I mean MASSIVE potholes in the road then patch them.

For a project that has spanned the better part of a decade this is where Crosslinx and Metrolinx have both failed miserably. I remember looking at the Crossrail project in London and being amazed at how tidy the sites were. If you compare the projects they are not identical but both are similar in that they are crossing a major high density urban area and both have multiple construction sites operating concurrently. -- All of the sites in London were enclosed behind visually appealing barricades, the streetscape as a whole outside of these barricades was cared for and untouched by construction activity. When you compare London's approach to Toronto the difference is night and day. London clearly is taking every effort to minimize annoyance and disruption to city residents, whereby apparently Crosslinx and Metrolinx could give a flying f**K.

Crosslinx and Metrolinx need to take notes from TfL's playbook. Also, we the citizens need to be more demanding and stop tolerating this ignorance from our government.

EDIT: For comparisons sake here is a picture of your average TfL Crossrail construction site... the difference in cleanliness and appearance is staggering.
View attachment 232398
Click to expand...

Not to excuse Crosslinx but how is the construction on Eglinton different from any other Toronto road construction sites or other construction sites? I drove around Keele and Finch when they building the Spadina extension and Eglinton is no different from that construction zone. If y'all are so offended by Eglinton then how do y'all manage to go around other construction sites in this city or even the city itself. Most of Toronto looks dilapidated. Driving through the majority of Toronto I am shocked at how rundown most of the place looks especially the suburbs. From potholes and terrible roads to cracked sidewalks, wooden hydro poles, hydro wires everywhere, third world or nonexistent public realm. You can't compare what is happening in London to here. They seem to have standards which they make sure are upheld. Standards here are nonexistent or so low to begin with. Crosslinx is meeting the minimum standards of this city. You think if this project was in London, Crosslinx would be doing this? As they say when in Rome, do as the Romans do...
 
Will the new Crosstown LRT line have wheelchair, stroller, and bicycle stairway runnels? In case all the elevators and escalators are out-of-service (IE. power failure).

ot2w23e26jr01.jpg

From link.

aae3dbfc182a6a8951d69ea4fb597d9e.jpg

From link.
 
Adjei said:
Not to excuse Crosslinx but how is the construction on Eglinton different from any other Toronto road construction sites or other construction sites? I drove around Keele and Finch when they building the Spadina extension and Eglinton is no different from that construction zone. If y'all are so offended by Eglinton then how do y'all manage to go around other construction sites in this city or even the city itself. Most of Toronto looks dilapidated. Driving through the majority of Toronto I am shocked at how rundown most of the place looks especially the suburbs. From potholes and terrible roads to cracked sidewalks, wooden hydro poles, hydro wires everywhere, third world or nonexistent public realm. You can't compare what is happening in London to here. They seem to have standards which they make sure are upheld. Standards here are nonexistent or so low to begin with. Crosslinx is meeting the minimum standards of this city. You think if this project was in London, Crosslinx would be doing this? As they say when in Rome, do as the Romans do...
Click to expand...

Saving money by postponing maintenance, and hoping no one notices. Normal situation due to the fiscal-conservatives.
 
W. K. Lis said:
Saving money by postponing maintenance, and hoping no one notices. Normal situation due to the fiscal-conservatives.
Click to expand...

Nothing specific to conservatives here. Over-extended liberals with more spending promises than they can fund do exactly the same thing, rather than face fiscal realities.

The root cause is a political system that is not prepared to defend the cost of doing things right, and prefers to squeeze until people do things wrong.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
Nothing specific to conservatives here. Over-extended liberals with more spending promises than they can fund do exactly the same thing, rather than face fiscal realities.

The root cause is a political system that is not prepared to defend the cost of doing things right, and prefers to squeeze until people do things wrong.

- Paul
Click to expand...

Successive governments and the media have brainwashed the public into thinking lower spending = better results. No competent business would ever be run in such a manner
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Successive governments and the media have brainwashed the public into thinking lower spending = better results. No competent business would ever be run in such a manner
Click to expand...
Except for the fact that most businesses operate in that exact same manner. They want to pay employees the least amount possible, with the lowest headcount possible so they can keep as much as the profit as they can.

Governments just spend money inefficiently (re: that is different than "efficiencies" garbage we hear from politicians time and time again) because no one is there to hold them accountable. By inefficient, I mean they dish money out in a manner that gives them the least bang for their buck, while spending in other areas that are just purely questionable. For example, just look at what Doug Ford did with the Hamilton LRT: wasting hundreds of millions there while at the same time saying there is no more money for teachers.
 
Amare said:
Except for the fact that most businesses operate in that exact same manner. They want to pay employees the least amount possible, with the lowest headcount possible so they can keep as much as the profit as they can.

Governments just spend money inefficiently (re: that is different than "efficiencies" garbage we hear from politicians time and time again) because no one is there to hold them accountable. By inefficient, I mean they dish money out in a manner that gives them the least bang for their buck, while spending in other areas that are just purely questionable. For example, just look at what Doug Ford did with the Hamilton LRT: wasting hundreds of millions there while at the same time saying there is no more money for teachers.
Click to expand...
Not the best example, as their defense is that they were "cutting loss". A better example would be if the line was entirely paid for, and was then mothballed.
 
Amare said:
Except for the fact that most businesses operate in that exact same manner. They want to pay employees the least amount possible, with the lowest headcount possible so they can keep as much as the profit as they can.

Governments just spend money inefficiently (re: that is different than "efficiencies" garbage we hear from politicians time and time again) because no one is there to hold them accountable. By inefficient, I mean they dish money out in a manner that gives them the least bang for their buck, while spending in other areas that are just purely questionable. For example, just look at what Doug Ford did with the Hamilton LRT: wasting hundreds of millions there while at the same time saying there is no more money for teachers.
Click to expand...

Businesses pay whatever amount they feel will get them the best value for their money. That doesn't necessarily mean the least possible amount.

Case in point: A software company is buying computers for their engineers. Are they going to buy them the cheapest possible computers? No, of course not. On the contrary, they'd likely end up buying some of the most expensive machines available, as they deliver the best value through higher productivity and lower support and lifecycle costs.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Businesses pay whatever amount they feel will get them the best value for their money. That doesn't necessarily mean the least possible amount.

Case in point: A software company is buying computers for their engineers. Are they going to buy them the cheapest possible computers? No, of course not. On the contrary, they'd likely end up buying some of the most expensive machines available, as they deliver the best value through higher productivity and lower support and lifecycle costs.
Click to expand...
The problem with public sector is their lack of profit-drivers. A business gets things done efficiently because they have to keep a constant eye on returns - if something gets bloated, it gets cut back, while still keeping an eye on key profit drivers.

Public sector is instead result-focused. The goal is set out at the outset - say, build a transit line, and costs accumulate to reach that framework set out at the start. Some bloating gets cut to control spending, but often the initial goal is politically motivated and has a poor return. And when costs do get cut, they focus on lower the capital expenditure, not how to keep costs in line while still delivering a quality product that will sell.

Another huge factor in public sector bloat is stuff that comes from being a government. Things like spending to ensure transparency, slow decision making because politicians need to approve it, open bidding processes to ensure fairness, etc.

A public sector project must be bid out fairly to all qualifying bidders. This sounds great, but reality is that the time and bureaucracy needed to do this often far outweighs the benefits of a marginally lower bid price. Successful private sector companies often realize that the most efficient way is to instead build a trusted group of consultants and contractors that they can single source work to. It may not be quite as cheap as if they had openly solicited bids, but it ensures that work moves quickly, smoothly, and the final product is quality because those contractors and consultants are trusted.
 
innsertnamehere said:
The problem with public sector is their lack of profit-drivers. A business gets things done efficiently because they have to keep a constant eye on returns - if something gets bloated, it gets cut back.

Public sector is instead result-focused. The goal is set out at the outset - say, build a transit line, and costs accumulate to reach that framework set out at the start. Some bloating gets cut to control spending, but often the initial goal is politically motivated and has a poor return. And when costs do get cut, they focus on lower the capital expenditure, not how to keep costs in line while still delivering a quality product that will sell.
Click to expand...
No, public sector project costs balloon because of risk. The public sector has every desire to reduce costs (but not cut costs) — political motivation, saving money for other projects, etc, but the projects they take on are 1. Huge/complex, and 2. Underbid on. There's a case for lazy public sector workers, but remember, safety standards have to be taken most seriously by the public sector, MOL is setting the standards so they should be following them after all.
 
crs1026 said:
What proportion of those businesses are leased versus owned? I don’t see the merit in giving a tax break to landlords, especially if the businesses have been paying their rent on time through this period. That advantage will not trickle down to the businesses. In all likelihood the landlord is seeing an uptick in market value for their buildings and may eventually raise rents. They don’t need tax relief.
Click to expand...
Typically, in a commercial setting, the owners pass on property taxes to the occupant of the building. This may not be the case for all lessees along this stretch, but it's much different than say, residential.
 
innsertnamehere said:
The problem with public sector is their lack of profit-drivers. A business gets things done efficiently because they have to keep a constant eye on returns - if something gets bloated, it gets cut back, while still keeping an eye on key profit drivers.
Click to expand...

I think that you would be surprised to hear about some of the stories of "bloat" at many businesses. The idea of "if I don't spend my budget this year, I won't get it next year" is certainly not something confined to the public sector - it happens regularly at places like GM, IBM, etc.

Dan
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top