The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[Barnard's Star]

Random request: does anyone know if a tentative station map for the Toronto Crosstown (Eglinton) line has been released? Live in the area and would love to see what's planned.

Never mind, they've got something here: http://www.thecrosstown.ca/the-project/stations-and-stops

[Innsertnamehere]

I was going to say that there has been a map for years. the Western stations are already well under construction.

edit:

looking at the website, I found this amusing:

What: Crews have taken down the overhead wire lines and will resume the removal of steel beams or piles in conflict with the Crosstown tunnel route located on the north side of Eglinton Avenue West near Old Park Road.

Why: Steel beams, or piles, previously installed as underground structural support for the cancelled subway expansion program in the mid-1990s are being removed to make way for the tunnels of the Crosstown.

http://www.thecrosstown.ca/news-media/wh...st-at-old-park-road#sthash.1yRML5uU.dpuf

[Barnard's Star]

I find it a little odd that station names indicated on the map are identical in some cases to existing subway stations (Keele, Bathurst, etc.).

[losername]

Originally Posted by Barnard's Star

I find it a little odd that station names indicated on the map are identical in some cases to existing subway stations (Keele, Bathurst, etc.).

I agree how uninspired and lazy. It is also potential very confusing for out-of-towners and tourists to see multiple stations with the same name and a directional adjective added on ( St. Clair, St. Clair West, Bathurst, Bathurst North, etc)

[nname]

Chicago has 7 "Western" stations

[Innsertnamehere]

The station names are temporary, they will be changed as completion draws closer. Its the same thing with the spadina extension, a couple of the stations names changed from the original maps. (steeles west became Pioneer Village for example)

[Barnard's Star]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

The station names are temporary, they will be changed as completion draws closer. Its the same thing with the spadina extension, a couple of the stations names changed from the original maps. (steeles west became Pioneer Village for example)

Good to know. Names on a subway map come to define how people reference their city. They deserve consideration. I'll be curious what happens with the stop nearest me.

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by losername

I agree how uninspired and lazy. It is also potential very confusing for out-of-towners and tourists to see multiple stations with the same name and a directional adjective added on ( St. Clair, St. Clair West, Bathurst, Bathurst North, etc)

At least you're never unsure of where you are that way.

[SteelTown]

Panel recommendation for transit funding in GTHA...

http://transitpanel.ca/uploads/Final%20p...20Consequences%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

One option for the proposed revenue stream includes:
• Gasoline and Fuel Taxes: phased increase commencing with 3 cents per litre and adding 1 cent per litre per year up to 10 cents per litre
• Corporate Income Tax: modest increase of 0.5 per cent to the general rate
• Provincial Portion of Harmonized Sales Tax: redeployment of the GTHA portion of the provincial part of the HST charged on gasoline and fuel taxes

An alternative option caps the increase in gasoline and fuel taxes at 5 cents and is instead followed by a 0.5 per cent increase to the HST. The other two revenue sources are the same.

when fully implemented, will provide between $1.7 and $1.8 billion annually for transit in the GTHA

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Panel recommendation for transit funding in GTHA...

http://transitpanel.ca/uploads/Final%20p...20Consequences%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

One option for the proposed revenue stream includes:
• Gasoline and Fuel Taxes: phased increase commencing with 3 cents per litre and adding 1 cent per litre per year up to 10 cents per litre
• Corporate Income Tax: modest increase of 0.5 per cent to the general rate
• Provincial Portion of Harmonized Sales Tax: redeployment of the GTHA portion of the provincial part of the HST charged on gasoline and fuel taxes

An alternative option caps the increase in gasoline and fuel taxes at 5 cents and is instead followed by a 0.5 per cent increase to the HST. The other two revenue sources are the same.

when fully implemented, will provide between $1.7 and $1.8 billion annually for transit in the GTHA

If those are province-wide, watch the Liberals get decimated outside the GTHA. Why should someone living in, say, Sudbury, have to pay much higher taxes for something they get nothing for in return? That is taxation without representation!

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

If those are province-wide, watch the Liberals get decimated outside the GTHA. Why should someone living in, say, Sudbury, have to pay much higher taxes for something they get nothing for in return? That is taxation without representation!

The liberals are already destroyed outside the GTA... Trust me all the farmers are with Hudak and the liberals can't change that.

But in a province of only 13.5 million, and 7 million of that in the GTA you only need the GTA to hold a majority "or" minority government.

That's their plan I think.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

The liberals are already destroyed outside the GTA... Trust me all the farmers are with Hudak and the liberals can't change that.

But in a province of only 13.5 million, and 7 million of that in the GTA you only need the GTA to hold a majority "or" minority government.

That's their plan I think.

The Liberals still have a lot of seats in the mid-sized cities, which would be the next to go. They cannot get a majority with zero seats outside, although they could form a weak minority if the non-GTA seats are divided between the PC and NDP (likely, those cities would probably vote NDP before PC while rural areas go for Hudak, even if they want someone even more right wing like Randy Hillier) and they run the table in the GTA.

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

The Liberals still have a lot of seats in the mid-sized cities, which would be the next to go. They cannot get a majority with zero seats outside, although they could form a weak minority if the non-GTA seats are divided between the PC and NDP (likely, those cities would probably vote NDP before PC while rural areas go for Hudak, even if they want someone even more right wing like Randy Hillier) and they run the table in the GTA.

Yes, but the liberals are paying for massive LRT expansion in Ottawa, as well Kitchener. So the damage has already been done, to whatever rurual support base they had. The latest polls suggest the status quo if an election were held today. No great rush by the PC's to trigger an election either, until they can expand their vote into the major urban area, which would likely mean proposing rapid transit expansion of their own, with a means to fund it as well. The liberal vote is almost exclusely concentrated to their benefit and the detriment of the PC's in urban areas in which they have already proposed expansion of transit infastructure.

Like I said the farmers hate this shit and they'll stick with Hudak, but it sucks for them, they're outnumbered and demograhics are fatally against them with each passing year.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Yes, but the liberals are paying for massive LRT expansion in Ottawa, as well Kitchener. So the damage has already been done, to whatever rurual support base they had. The latest polls suggest the status quo if an election were held today. No great rush by the PC's to trigger an election either, until they can expand their vote into the major urban area, which would likely mean proposing rapid transit expansion of their own, with a means to fund it as well.

I will admit the PC's (and NDP) need to be more open on how to fund. For the PC's, explain what programs will be cut, and for the NDP, explain what taxes they will come up with and how to distribute them.

I think municipal/regional taxes - not provincial taxes - are a much fairer solution. That is because there would be no case of rural residents funding programs they never use.

[Innsertnamehere]

I think the panel also stated that around $2.8 billion would be generated province wide, with the difference (around a billion) of the stuff coming from outside the province paying for projects outside of the GTA. The news articles seem to really be basing the report down to just the taxes, when there is really much more in it. It also proposes a specific transit fund, meanwhile Hudak seems to have not read the report and is saying that unlike the liberals, he will put the money in a seperate fund as well. He also suggesting selling the LCBO property downtown, and you would think that he would know it sold last year..

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

I think municipal/regional taxes - not provincial taxes - are a much fairer solution. That is because there would be no case of rural residents funding programs they never use.

Why should rural residents not be funding transit expansion? Do urban residents not pay for a ton of the stuff rural residents rely on, including subsidies for farmers?

The fact is the rural areas would not survive without the urban population, and we as a province have to get over the rural/urban split.

[WhipperSnapper]

I don't agree, for example, northern communities should be paying for transit in the GTA however, revenue streams are at the province's whims so that is why the province should fund it.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

Why should rural residents not be funding transit expansion? Do urban residents not pay for a ton of the stuff rural residents rely on, including subsidies for farmers?

The fact is the rural areas would not survive without the urban population, and we as a province have to get over the rural/urban split.

The vast majority of the rural population is not agricultural though.

[Innsertnamehere]

agriculture forms the base of rural economies, much like banking and industry forms the basis of Torontos. Infrastructure in rural areas tend to be much more subsidized as well, do you honestly think the multi billion dollar highway 400 extension to Sudbury is being paid for by people who will use it, or the other twinning projects around Thunder Bay and Kenora?

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

The vast majority of the rural population is not agricultural though.

Thats right. They are people who commute into major metropolitan centers in increasing numbers for jobs and services, and add to the traffic and transit problems.
They should for sure be paying for transit upgrades.

As a civilized society, we all pitch in and pay for the services that everyone in the province needs, regardless of where they live. This me me me me attitude of the last 20 years has gotten us nowhere in transit expansion and in other areas.