A Transit City for My City

Rarely do I step back from my own adventures and talk about stuff that’s going on in Canada. But this issue is something quite close to my heart. When I was at home during Christmas I kept seeing signs for the TTC’s Transit City plan. And I have to say that I am ecstatic about it. The plans look amazing: 120 km of LRT spread out over seven lines, 175 million new riders a year, 92% less emissions. Transit City aims to finally link Toronto’s suburbs (Scarborough, Etobicoke and parts of North York) to the core. As someone who has taken the Scarborough RT for years and suffered through the nails-on-a-chalkboard-magnified-a-million-times squealing of the tracks, I eagerly await a newer, modern LRT system.

LRT in Brussels that goes above and below ground

I know they’re at the planning stages still and that transit projects usually proceed with prehistoric-age speed, but I will not be discouraged. According to this, the Mayor Miller plans to have financing early in 2009 and break ground by the end of the year.

"If we have [federal] funding commitments in January, we can do a lot to get shovels in the ground by the end of 2009," Mr. Miller promises.

The first visible project of Transit City is a new light-rail line on Sheppard Avenue (from Don Mills Station to Morningside Avenue), with construction set for September, 2009. But the mayor says federal dollars could speed up plans for the next two projects in the lineup: the Eglinton Crosstown (from Kennedy Station to Pearson Airport) and a new Etobicoke-Finch West line (from Yonge Street to Highway 27).

That's all well and good, but don’t let the exclamation points and italics fool you. There are issues and problems with the plan (financing it not to mention that it probably won’t shorten the commute downtown by that much), but it’s a start and an effort at tackling a huge problem in this city.

Inside the LRT in Brussels

All the articles about the plan always mention the “European-style light rail” which is funny but completely true. Light rail in some form has been in most of the cities I’ve been to (with London a notable exception). I have to admit, when I first heard about the plan a year or two ago, I was very skeptical. Streetcars in Scarborough sounded like the worst idea I’d ever heard. But then I went to Europe. It works. The Dutch rely on nothing else in Amsterdam and streetcars cross major streets with no problem. It works for them, let’s see how it’ll work for us.