The future of Mayor John Tory’s SmartTrack plan is again in doubt, with the mayor acknowledging Wednesday the city’s tentative transit deal with the province could force a reconsideration of the stations to be built under his signature rail proposal. A previous city report had already flagged two of SmartTrack’s planned six stations that could be undermined by the province’s plans. Ahead of a debate about the deal at a meeting of his executive committee Wednesday, the mayor conceded some of the six proposed SmartTrack stations could “become less relevant” if the Progressive Conservatives’ transit plans go ahead. “I would say that there’s a chance of some alteration being made to the station makeup” of SmartTrack, Tory said at a press conference. The mayor supports the deal with the province, but it has yet to be approved by council. If council votes for it next week, the city would endorse the projects that make up the Ontario government’s $28.5-billion transit plan and agree to allocate federal funding toward the lines, while Queen’s Park would abandon its push to take ownership of the existing TTC subway network. The mayor didn’t specify which SmartTrack stations could become “less relevant.” But a city staff assessment of provincial plans released last week determined the proposal for a three-stop Scarborough subway backed by Premier Doug Ford would “reduce the estimated usage” of the planned Lawrence East SmartTrack station. The city had been pursuing a one-stop extension, but one of the stations that would be added under the province’s plan would be at Lawrence Avenue East, which would eat into SmartTrack ridership. The report also said the station planned at Gerrard Street on the province’s 15.5-kilometre, $11-billion Ontario Line “may preclude the construction” of a SmartTrack station at Gerrard and Carlaw avenues. While conceding some SmartTrack stations may not fit with the province’s plans, Tory said new stations may also “be added within the SmartTrack concept.” He provided few specifics, but said Metrolinx, the provincial agency that oversees the GO network on which SmartTrack stations would be built, was in “discussions” about adding stations “that weren’t previously contemplated” as part of an ongoing GO expansion. He said the new stops could be in Toronto’s west end, but wouldn’t be on the Kitchener GO corridor, where the other planned SmartTrack stops in that half of the city would be located. SmartTrack has shrunk significantly from the plan that formed the bedrock of Tory’s first successful mayoral campaign in 2014, when he pledged to build a 53-kilometre “surface subway” that would utilize existing GO transit lines and have 15 new stations. He said it could be done in seven years. Since then, the number of new SmartTrack stations was reduced to just six, and their completion date pushed back to at least 2024. In April 2018, council agreed to use federal and municipal funds to pay up to $1.46 billion for the six stops, the construction of which would be overseen by Metrolinx. But Metrolinx soon changed course and adopted a “transitoriented development” strategy to try to enlist private sector partners to pay for new GO stops in exchange for development rights near stations. Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins declined to say whether the agency is considering adding SmartTrack stations in the west end. She said Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are in “active discussions” about constructing stations using transit-oriented development, and Metrolinx is “pleased with the positive interest from the development community so far.” It’s been known for some time that SmartTrack stations would be on GO lines and served by GO trains. But if the private sector rather than the city funds the additional stations the mayor referred to Wednesday, and if the stops are on different GO lines than other SmartTrack stations, it’s not clear what would differentiate them from other new GO stations Metrolinx is building in Toronto as part of its ongoing service expansion.(Toronto Star, Ben Spurr)
New Ontario Line to include more stops in downtown core(2019.04.11)
A map of the new Ontario Line proposed in the PC government's 2019 budget. HANDOUT/PC government budget On Wednesday, the province announced a new transit plan which includes a revamped Toronto downtown subway relief line – dubbed the Ontario Line. In Thursday’s provincial budget announcement, more details about the line were revealed, including two more stops in the downtown core which were not part of the previous plans for the line. The added stops will be at the densely populated Queen and Spadina and King and Bathurst intersections. CityNews asked Mayor Tory about the possibility of extending the relief line further west last week, and at the time he said it would only be considered in the distant future. The new line will now include the following expansions to the city’s Relief Line South proposal:
The line will extend north, all the way to Ontario Science Centre instead of ending at Pape Station.
The line will extend further west, past Osgoode Station, through the downtown core and all the way to Ontario Place
The plans also include developing better designs for the new stations that would connect with other existing rail infrastructure. (City News)
Hold off on cheering Toronto’s big transit news(2019.10.17)
Happy talk filled the airwaves when the news broke that city hall had reached an agreement with Queen’s Park on a grand new transit plan for Toronto. Mayor John Tory said that the city had beaten back the provincial government’s attempt to seize ownership of the existing subway system. Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said the deal cleared the way for an unprecedented expansion of Toronto’s overburdened transit network. The board of trade called it a “great deal” for Torontonians and promised Mr. Tory its full support. The federal Liberals, perhaps afraid of getting left out of the party on the eve of an election, suddenly dropped their skepticism and suggested they would dedicate billions to the project. The sweaty straphangers on the Yonge subway line at rush hour could be forgiven for simply shrugging, if they could find the room. After all, they have seen this film before. Time after time, suits have lined up at the microphone to announce a new transit project that would ease crowding and improve service on the subways. Time and again, commuters have seen those projects scaled back, altered or just scrapped. You could fill a dumpster to the brim with all the maps, press releases and expert reports on the various subway and light-rail plans that have come and gone over the past generation. Asian cities have built whole subway systems in the time Toronto has been talking about expanding its network, which still relies mainly on two lines opened (if since extended) in the 1950s and 60s. Toronto to keep ownership of existing subway network in Queen’s Park transit deal Is this latest announcement any different? The early signs were encouraging, no doubt. The city and the province had been at loggerheads for months over Premier Doug Ford’s move to upload the subways and replace the city’s long-planned Relief Line subway project with one of its own: the Ontario Line. Now, after many months of talking, they have struck a deal. Queen’s Park drops its plan to upload the subway; city hall drops its objections to the Ontario Line. Toronto doesn’t have to put up even a penny of the nearly $30-billion it will cost for the provincial government’s ambitious transit plan, which along with the Ontario Line includes a westward extension of the Eglinton light-rail line, a northward extension of the Yonge subway to Richmond Hill and the much-disputed, often-adjusted Scarborough subway. That means it will have more money in its coffers to cover the billions in maintenance costs it faces just to keep the existing subways running. No wonder Mr. Tory felt able to crow in his statement on the deal: “We have defended our TTC, found a way to move forward on transit expansion, and to invest in improvements in our existing system, and we have done so with an increased financial commitment from the province – that is tremendously good news for the residents of Toronto I was elected to represent.” But, amid all the hosannas, some difficult questions swirled. The centrepiece of the whole thing, the Ontario Line, is still just a coloured line drawn on a map. Much of the money and effort that went into designing the Relief Line is out the window. The Ontario Line is a very different animal. What kind of cars will it use? What kind of stations? How will it fit with the current subway and commuter-rail system? The Toronto Transit Commission notes that “The Ontario Line will use a transit technology that is not the same as existing TTC subway technology and trains will not be compatible with existing TTC subway trains, tracks, or other facilities.” Its careful endorsement of the project says that “It is important to note that this assessment is based on the current early conceptual design.” That design calls for the western part of the line to end at Ontario Place by the waterfront, no one’s idea of an obvious mass-transit terminus. Then there is the little matter of money. Thirty billion is a lot of dough. Even if city hall is not picking up the tab, someone has to. How a government that is dedicated to erasing the provincial deficit and controlling the size of government will find the resources for this ambitious plan is another mystery. Toronto has learned through bitter experience that, when it comes to mass transit, there is a distinction between announcing something and building something. Those sweaty straphangers are right to think: I’ll believe it when I ride it.(Globe and Mail, Marcus Gee)
Toronto to keep ownership of existing subway network in Queen’s Park transit deal(2019.10.16)
Toronto and the provincial government have reached a tentative deal clearing the way to expand transit in the city after months of difficult negotiations. Under the arrangement, which must be approved by city council, Queen’s Park drops its plan to seize ownership of the existing subway network. In exchange, the city agrees to endorse four provincial transit projects, which would then go ahead without the city having to contribute financially. Although the city wouldn’t have to put money toward the province’s big-ticket projects, including its three-stop Scarborough subway extension in the city’s northeast and the Ontario Line spanning the downtown, Toronto would be required to direct billions to maintaining the increasingly aged current system, or for other expansions the city and province agree are worthwhile. The arrangement announced Wednesday marks a turnaround for the governing Progressive Conservatives, which had campaigned on a pledge to take over Toronto’s subways. City council voted against the idea, saying that residents paid for much of its construction. The province had the legal right to go ahead with the takeover, though, and has passed enabling legislation. The deal, which was negotiated by city bureaucrats, will go to Toronto City Council later this month and is being championed by Mayor John Tory. “I believe our professional city staff, through negotiations and discussions with the province over the past year, have found a path forward that will see more transit built, see it built as soon as possible and will see the city as a partner in the design and construction of the new lines,” he told reporters as he announced the deal, which comes five days before a federal election. Although the deal does not require city funding for the Ontario Line, the Scarborough project, an expansion of the subway north from the city to Richmond Hill and an extension of a midtown light-rail line, the city’s endorsement of these projects is crucial. Under a long-standing federal funding model, Ottawa defers to cities on which transit projects to support. In the case of these four, Toronto has to deem them priorities, even if the city will not pay for them, in order for federal money to flow. Toronto’s share of the cost of these projects – which would thus be freed up for other use – is projected to be between $5.1-billion and $6-billion under standard funding formulas. Most of this money has not been budgeted for, though, and would have to be raised by the city. If done, this could make a dent in the transit system’s more than $30-billion repair and upkeep backlog. Under Wednesday’s deal, Queen’s Park would pay the balance of the four projects and has promised to reimburse Toronto for “reasonable costs” incurred by the city on transit design work made unnecessary by the province’s plan. The province would own the resulting transit infrastructure, which would be operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. The city would be liable for any operating-cost shortfalls. “Riders will be paying to operate new lines through the fare box,” Shelagh Pizey-Allen, director of the advocacy group TTCriders, said in a statement. “Mayor Tory must negotiate for proper funding, because provincial cuts are already squeezing the TTC budget.” A city staff report released Wednesday said that both the Scarborough and Ontario Line projects are “supportable in principle,” and would benefit the city. The report notes that the province has promised to have the Ontario Line open by 2027 and the Scarborough extension by 2029/2030. However, those timelines are not firm. Other lingering issues include how much longer the current train line in Scarborough can be kept operational. More questions hang over the Ontario Line, which is in the very early stages of design. Councillor Brad Bradford, who was named by Mr. Tory to lead council’s effort on the Relief Line, a long-standing proposal being replaced by the Ontario Line, acknowledged uncertainties around it. “Design is very preliminary at this point, but as we go through the process, as the professionals, the engineers, the designers, work on that, we’re going to have more information and they’ll flesh out the design of the Ontario Line,” he said. Talks between the province and the city on a subway upload have been going on for months and included the possibility that Queen’s Park would own only expansions to the current system. Settling on the arrangement announced Wednesday leaves the city owning the current infrastructure. Asked why the retreat was necessary, Caroline Mulroney, who has been the provincial Transportation Minister since June, said it was clear from the outset that the city wanted to keep ownership of the existing system. “We share priorities with the city of Toronto on this issue, and it’s an opportunity to work together,” she told reporters at Queen’s Park, explaining that ditching the upload proposal was the best way to work with Toronto and get transit built quickly. The deal also marks a new twist for transit in Scarborough, which has been modified repeatedly over years. Supporters of the Scarborough subway initially said it would cost only $500-million more than the light-rail line that the then-Liberal government had promised to fund. Costs ballooned by billions and council eventually decided to remove two stops to save money. While campaigning for provincial office, Doug Ford insisted the project needed to have the stops added back in and dismissed concerns about how much more this would cost. With provincial control of the project, the stops are to be included and all costs borne by higher levels of government.(The Globe and Mail, Oliver Moore & Jeff Gray)