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TTC: Other Items (catch all)

Adjei said:
If you can't see that Smart Track has come and sucked out all the momentum out of the DRL, then I don't know what to say. A year ago who was talking about the DRL? When was the last time anybody talked about the DRL at city hall? When last did John Tory talk about the DRL? Where is all the set station locations for Smart Track? Where are all the studies done for it? We have gone from no one talking about Smart Track last year to it being funded within one year. They are still debating and studying on the feasibility of the Eglinton section but all of a sudden we have all this funding coming for it? What a joke. Nobody even knows what Smart Track is. Whether it is part of GO RER or what it is. But we all of a sudden have the Feds committing 2 billion for it. Smart Track has taken all of the spotlight from the DRL. They can plan all they want but no money is coming for it.
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The DRL is in the planning stages. "People talking" about the DRL isn't going to push it forward anymore than it already is. There is a whole team behind the DRL project that is still working on it. There is NOTHING to fund at the moment besides planning, which already received funding and is proceeding. Clearly you're just not paying attention to the process that is going on right in front of your eyes.

As I already said, the funding for Smart Track is possible because very little of Smart Track is new. Its all on existing lines, using a plan that has been floating around for many years. Its not something new like the DRL, which was talked about in the past, but never had EA's, never had an alignment selected, never had stations identified etc.
 
Tuscani01 said:
The DRL is in the planning stages. "People talking" about the DRL isn't going to push it forward anymore than it already is. There is a whole team behind the DRL project that is still working on it. There is NOTHING to fund at the moment besides planning, which already received funding and is proceeding. Clearly you're just not paying attention to the process that is going on right in front of your eyes.

As I already said, the funding for Smart Track is possible because very little of Smart Track is new. Its all on existing lines, using a plan that has been floating around for many years. Its not something new like the DRL, which was talked about in the past, but never had EA's, never had an alignment selected, never had stations identified etc.
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Yes I am paying attention the process where Smart Track has taken over the attention at city hall and is being pushed right now. There can be a whole team dedicated to the DRL but it's being pushed to the back. They can do all the planning they want but Smart Track is sucking up all money available. Don't you see how political transit in Toronto. We went from an LRT line being funded for Scarborough RT to a subway plan all with one byelection.

Projects which get built are those which are pushed by politicians. Nobody is pushing and advocating for the DRL. Sure it may get studied or planned but without a politician pushing, its basically hanging on life support. The Province doesn't even mention it, nobody at city hall does, and the feds don't seem interested. Sure city bureaucrats may plan for it, but it needs politicians to push and advocate for it.

Very little of Smart Track is new? How about one of the main components of it which is the Eglinton section still being studied for feasibility? How about whether GO or TTC will run it? How about the fare structure and station locations which are still be studied? I don't see how ready Smart Track is to be receiving all this funding? Where is the EA for Smart Track?
 
Tuscani01 said:
The Star is reporting that the announcement is for Smart Track funding. It's being announced at Hillcrest because it is in Joe Oliver's riding.
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So this is an election campaign thing then. It has no meaning unless the Conservatives win. With the rift between Wynne and Harper, this isn't going to lead to any money from the province anytime soon.

Tuscani01 said:
Because there is no DRL to fund yet. Alignment has yet to be determined, stops have yet to be determined,
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So same as Smarttrack then.

Tuscani01 said:
there is no Provincial funding yet, and there is no city funding yet beyond the money being spent on the ongoing planning of the DRL.
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There's been a provincial commitment to the DRL with it being one of the Big Move Wave 2 projects, along with the Hurontario and Hamilton LRT lines. The province re-iterated this in the 2015 budget only a few weeks ago. However the province has made it clear that aren't funding SmartTrack, beyond the work they were already planning for years for the RER.
 

Then John Tory ran for election on a whole new concept for relieving crowding on the subways: SmartTrack, which would use existing GO lines to whisk commuters in and out of downtown. He won. Olivia Chow, who championed the relief line, lost.

Mr. Tory insists he still wants to build the relief line eventually, even if SmartTrack comes first. TTC chief executive Andy Byford said after the election that he, too, thinks the relief line is still needed.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-unicorn-of-transit-projects/article23343458/

But for now, all the energy and political thrust are going into the SmartTrack and Scarborough projects. The relief line, which once seemed to be emerging as the priority project, is now just one of the priority projects.

The literature the city is handing out at its public meetings says that if SmartTrack relieves some of the pressure on the Yonge subway line, it “may delay the need for the relief line.” In effect, the relief line has been pushed down the to-do list.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-unicorn-of-transit-projects/article23343458/

See all the spotlight is shifting away from the Relief Line onto Smart Track.
 
The province stated that their funding for Smart Track is the electrification of the GO Lines.
 
Tuscani01 said:
Because there is no DRL to fund yet. Alignment has yet to be determined, stops have yet to be determined, there is no Provincial funding yet, and there is no city funding yet beyond the money being spent on the ongoing planning of the DRL.
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The exact same is true about SmartTrack. It was not even a year ago that this line on a map was concocted and yet it has not only become the top priority but now there's money behind it.

Smart Track is piggy backing on already built and planned infrastructure, most of which could already start being built without rolling stock or stations.
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What infrastructure? This is an $8 BILLION dollar project. Rail corridors need to be expanded, tunnels need to be built, new stations need to be built, existing stations need to be rebuilt with higher platforms, grade separations are needed, electrification is needed, new rolling stock, etc. And it's way too early to know what will be done on Eglinton or where the final terminus will be, what the fare system will look like, what the ridership will be (which will greatly depend on fares), what the Scarborough subway will do, what the actual cost will be, where the stations will go, or how much subway relief it will actually provide (in exchange for more crowing at Union station). But sure, lets do a funding announcement anyway. And while everyone was busy pretending that SmartTrack is a relief line, soon enough Union station will have turned into another Yonge & Bloor by the time SmartTrack and RER is built, while the actual Yonge & Bloor remains as congested as ever before. So much for relief. In ten years we will be debating whether the DRL should be a priority, or whether a new heavy rail GO tunnel to relieve Union station should be built first.
 
Adjei said:
See all the spotlight is shifting away from the Relief Line onto Smart Track.
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If it becomes a key part of the Conservative party platform, and the other parties go after it, it will push a majority of councillors against it, for the short-term future.

And then will die a quick depth if the Conservatives do not win another majority government.

Today's announcement might be the best news for those who want the DRL to take priority.
 
nfitz said:
If it becomes a key part of the Conservative party platform, and the other parties go after it, it will push a majority of councillors against it, for the short-term future.

And then will die a quick depth if the Conservatives do not win another majority government.

Today's announcement might be the best news for those who want the DRL to take priority.
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What makes you think the any federal government will push the DRL. The Feds will get behind whatever project the city is pushing. You think if the city is pushing Smart Track, whatever federal government is in power will just come out and say they want to fund the DRL? Even if any government comes in, I doubt they will be cancelling this announcement and face the wrath of the voters.
 
nfitz said:
If it becomes a key part of the Conservative party platform, and the other parties go after it, it will push a majority of councillors against it, for the short-term future.

And then will die a quick depth if the Conservatives do not win another majority government.

Today's announcement might be the best news for those who want the DRL to take priority.
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How would Harper's announcement have anything to do with making the DRL a reality? I dont even think Harper knows what the DRL is.
 
Adjei said:
What makes you think the any federal government will push the DRL.
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I don't think the federal government would push DRL. I didn't indicate that it would. So far the province has provided 100% funding for the other Big Move Wave 2 projects.

Amare said:
How would Harper's announcement have anything to do with making the DRL a reality?
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Because unless Harper wins the next federal election, then this could bury SmartTrack. Not only do I not think Harper will win the next election - neither does much of the cabinet, given how many are jumping off the sinking ship.
 
I agree with nfitz. No other party needs to support the DRL.

If the Conservative Party falls, which is looking very likely, and Tory is reliant on this federal funding to get SmartTrack going, then SmartTrack is dead in the water.
 
But do we know that no other party is willing to fund Smart Track? The NDP haven't specified where the money offered to cities in their transit platform is going. It can easily be directed by council to Smart Track in the case that they win the next election. Same goes for the Liberals, who will likely be promising stable funding to municipalities to use as they please.

Even if they don't the Province is still moving forward with RER, which Tory can still have some influence in, which would allow him to still brand it as Smart Track.
 
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