Quote:
Originally Posted by hipster duck
I think the pendulum is swinging back. There are a number of major projects on the books right now - REM being the obvious example we're talking about here, but also Metrolinx's GO RER system and the Ontario Line - where community planning and social engineering-through-transit has taken a backseat to traditional metrics like improving travel times for the majority of existing users.
I'd like to get a take from actual planners, but I think that Ontario's accelerated transit approval process (the TPAP) discourages the long, drawn-out environmental reviews and community consultations that basically attracted political meddling, NIMBYs and scope creep in the past.
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Very true on all accounts.
This is how so many cities in the world have expanded their rapid transit at a dizzying pace while, particularly Montreal and Toronto, have done so piecemeal and taken ages to build.
These ridiculously long environmental reviews are a big part of the problem and have turned out to be a politicians best friend. The politicians can "announce" the projects but the endless reviews and consultations guarantee them that they will actually never have to spend any money during their term.
What also pisses me off is when these people who live beside a railway line bitch because all of a sudden the cities decide to make use of them.