Interesting attempt at obfuscating the technology choices.
When you get down to it, it isn't all black and white. When you say "subway" people think underground. When you say "streetcar" people think at-grade. I wouldn't think the general public would accept calling the SRT a 'subway' even though it has the same grade-seperated features. In theory, you could call it a superway (I'd call at-grade a surway).
How about just bring over the new London buses to the suburbs of Toronto?
GO is getting some new double deckers (currently 22
Alexander Dennis Enviro500), but they won't be running in Toronto proper due to height restrictions.
It's not vision. It's unfair trade agreements that deprive us of need manufacturing revenue. And please, I do not want to hear any crap about how free trade is good for North America. Well, and a huge pool of cheap labour too.
Really? Canada has been diversifying over the last twenty years of globalization and 'free trade agreements', but the majority of trade isn't with 'large, cheap labour pools'. From 2004 to 2009, 82% down to 73% of Canadian exports went to the US; 69% down to 63% of Canadian imports came from the US.
Over the last 6 years, manufacturing revenues have been increasing yearly (barring the thumping we took in '09). At the same time, manufacturing revenues related to the US have declined.
Which free trade deal caused all this unfairness? NAFTA, Canada-Israel FTA, Canada-Chile FTA, Canada-Costa Rica FTA, Canada-EFTA FTA? If Canada didn't participate in NAFTA, you'd have seen a US-Mexico FTA that excluded Canadian interests. The Canada-Mexico part of NAFTA represents about 3% of Canada bilateral trade. Turning our noses up at Free Trade would not have stopped America shifting their manufacturing base South.
It's not unfair trade agreeements that caused manufacturing to globalize, it's unfair economic distribution. China has passed Mexico as an exporter to the US. There isn't a US-China Free Trade Agreement, so the 1990s concept of Canadian deindustrialization because of free trade is out-dated.
Until the government proves it can consistantly spend the lion share of funds efficiently, the general public will always resist increased taxation. I don't think people would resist tolls if they honestly believed it would save them money over their lifetime. Government is the most outdated area of most countries and as they set the status quo, they are the least likely to change it.
