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Originally Posted by TorontoDrew
I wish, under Doug Ford it will get built because he has a mandate to push through all of the bad ideas and plans his late brother was unable to do. Subways for the burbs and screw the core "They already have enough subways" his words.
When it comes to transit City Hall never has any balls and will say and promise anything every election time delaying transit by years or decades. Transit City was the last great plan which would have been built by now providing rapid transit to every corner of the city. The DRL could have beenin it's final planning stages by now but Rob Ford tore it up.
We should be taking the advice of non partisan experts when urban planning is involved and what ever plans are created should be stuck to and be protected. Every expert has said the DRL is the most important missing part of the TTC and building any new subways or feeder lines will only place more burden on a maxed out line. Good luck getting politicians to put the DRL in their campaign though, it doesn't win any votes outside of the core.
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For what it's worth, I was told by a project manager of the Vaughan subway extension project that work on the DRL plans is currently underway. No idea how far along they are, though.
As for the whole governance issue regarding transit planning in the GTA, my hope is that we can one day put a system in place that is similar to the TFL in London. This quote from a
Tricia Wood article sums it up pretty good:
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TfL doesn’t just oversee public transit (the “Tube,” buses, and river transit); it regulates the roads, licenses taxis, develops cycling infrastructure, and ensures pedestrian accessibility. One of the chief officers of TfL is a walking and cycling commissioner! All operators, public and private, fall under their purview. There are sub-regional panels with borough representatives that TfL consults with regularly.
The mayor is chair of TfL’s board. Only 40 per cent of TfL income comes from fares. The congestion charge is TfL revenue, so it funds nothing else. Twenty-five per cent of TfL income comes from various levels of government, mostly the central government—they have multi-year agreements for capital and operating funds.
To put it very simply, professionals are responsible for the operation of all mobility infrastructure, in coordination with each other, and all of this is accountable to a board and the City. The funding from the state reflects its responsibility to invest in public infrastructure, but it doesn’t turn that into interference on the specifics of projects. Because it can’t.
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Bringing all transportation-related matters in the GTA under one governance umbrella whose decision-making and funding is independent of political interference is sorely needed IMO. The fragmented nature of public transit across the region is becoming a serious issue.
It's pretty ridiculous that there is virtually no fare integration between different systems. If Ottawa and Gatineau can have fare integration, there is no reason why it can't be done in the GTA.
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