Ontario government announces 2 large transit initiatives (sales, real estate, 2015)
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The Ontario government just announced two large scale transit initiatives within the span of the week, both of which will drastically expand transit network and usage in the GTA and southern Ontario.
The first is Tuesday April 21's announcement by the provincial government to formally commit to funding the Hurontario-Brampton LRT project. After months of speculation that funding for this shovel-ready project will fall short, the Ontario government has formally agreed to foot the entire $1.6 billion cost of construction for the LRT line. This project could potentially be transformational in terms of densification and urban development along the busy Hurontario corridor in the years to come, and finally connect Mississauga and Brampton seamlessly to the GO Regional Express Rail network via a network of LRT stops intersected by GO RER stations.
All design work has already been completed by the government of Mississauga, and the project will now proceed to property procurement and utility relocation along the corridor before surface line construction begins. Few facts about the Hurontario LRT:
- 23 km total length, spanning from Port Credit GO station at the lake all the way to downtown Brampton in the north
- 26 light rail stations
- Construction to be completed by 2021-22
- Projected to carry over 33 million passengers per year by 2031
The second piece of transit initiative announced on April 17 by the Ontario government is that the province will seek to further increase its funding commitment to the massive GO Regional Express Rail project by another $2.6 billion, from $29 billion to a total of $31.5 billion committed to GO RER and other regional transit projects.
This large pool of funding will translate to all day round the clock GO service on ALL GO Transit corridors. Furthermore, frequency will be improved to every 15-minutes along corridors such as Lakeshore West and East, and peak frequency will reach every 7.5 minute per train or even less time. This funding will also fully support electrification of GO Transit along all corridors, paving the way to transform GO from a regular commuter service into a truly high-frequency rapid transit service. This will benefit not just Toronto, but the entire GTAH and southern Ontario.
in short, tax hike is expected for the next few years
Isn't it supposed to be funded by selling 60% of Hydro One and part of the real estate the Province currently owns (such as the OPG head office, LCBO lands etc.)?
Wynne previously ruled out hiking income tax or HST (well, so did McGuinty, and we all know how that turned out).
I still propose laying off government employees, possibly including myself .
in short, tax hike is expected for the next few years
More than happy to get tax hike, even if I have to pay more income or sales tax. If you look at all the opinion polls, most Torontonian and GTA residents give overwhelming support to these two much-needed projects, because congestion and gridlock is already at a breaking point in GTA as we speak. I live right beside Gardner and it is virtually impossible to drive east towards downtown where all the jobs are during weekdays and 2 pm - 10 pm weekends because of gridlock, not to mention exorbitant parking fees in private lots. Same thing goes for QEW, Hurontario during morning hours, 3-7 pm, and weekends, even though the street already has 6-8 parallel lanes.
Many times I find myself taking the GO Train even though it is slightly more expensive than driving, but at least I get predictability of my schedule, speed, and comfort. Driving to work these days in Toronto is just such a pain in the rear and also mentally taxing. These two projects are long overdue. If it means couple hundred dollars extra in income or sales taxes every year per person, I think most Torontonians are more than willing to have that trade off to ease everyone's daily commuting nightmare along Gardiner, 401, QEW, and Hurontario. Not to mention the fact that I could potentially get rid of my car and stop paying exorbitant insurance rates all together when LRT and GO RER are built. That's thousands in savings every year.
Last edited by bostonkid123; 04-22-2015 at 11:26 AM..
More than happy to get tax hike, even if I have to pay more income or sales tax. If you look at all the opinion polls, most Torontonian and GTA residents give overwhelming support to these two much-needed projects, because congestion and gridlock is already at a breaking point in GTA as we speak. I live right beside Gardner and it is virtually impossible to drive east towards downtown where all the jobs are during weekdays and 2 pm - 10 pm weekends because of gridlock, not to mention exorbitant parking fees in private lots. Same thing goes for QEW, Hurontario during morning hours, 3-7 pm, and weekends, even though the street already has 6-8 parallel lanes.
Many times I find myself taking the GO Train even though it is slightly more expensive than driving, but at least I get predictability of my schedule, speed, and comfort. Driving to work these days in Toronto is just such a pain in the rear and also mentally taxing. These two projects are long overdue.
all are valid points, but how is fair for people who don't drive and don't take TTC more than 4 times a year? One solution would be discouraging car ownership, if people rely more on public transportation rather than their own car, the traffic issue would be a much less complained problem, not to mention better for the environment too. It would make more sense to have get the money from gas tax and ticket price increase
all are valid points, but how is fair for people who don't drive and don't take TTC more than 4 times a year? One solution would be discouraging car ownership, if people rely more on public transportation rather than their own car, the traffic issue would be a much less complained problem, not to mention better for the environment too. It would make more sense to have get the money from gas tax and ticket price increase
Wait, how many people in GTA don't drive AND don't take transit? Maybe some senior citizens living near downtown? Unless you live and work within a few blocks of the downtown core, that's pretty much impossible except for a few lucky ones. I really want to just walk to work everyday, but that simply isn't a practical reality for majority of people in a city as large as Toronto.
Yes, I totally agree with you that the long term solution is to drastically improve transit availability and coverage so that less people will have the need to drive, thus making both our transit systems more sustainable while decongesting our roads. That's the long term goal in many large cities around the globe that face serious congestion issues like Toronto.
Yes, I also agree that transit fares should be increased, especially the average TTC fares. I know that in many cities in Europe, fares are substantially higher than TTC, which should be, because if you want a better system then people should be prepared to pay for it and stop whining. Currently, GO Transit seems to have figured out a very sustainable fare structure (cheapest fare is $5.60 depending on distance), and GO has been able to entirely fund its own operations via somewhat expensive fares.
As for increasing gas tax... good luck. It'll probably just turn into another partisan political issue with people screaming and yelling. Better to just leave it as it is for now.
Also, just for clarification, both projects that are being announced in the past week (GO RER and Hurontario LRT) will be built and operated solely by Metrolinx, the province-wide transit agency. TTC has no involvement whatsoever in their funding or operations because they've always been separate transit systems.
Isn't it supposed to be funded by selling 60% of Hydro One and part of the real estate the Province currently owns (such as the OPG head office, LCBO lands etc.)?
Wynne previously ruled out hiking income tax or HST (well, so did McGuinty, and we all know how that turned out).
I still propose laying off government employees, possibly including myself .
Yep, I believe the province is selling off the large LCBO building in downtown Toronto, along with a few other real estate properties. All in all, they are able to retain $4 billion just from these property sales, which is more than enough to cover the $1.6 billion construction cost for the Hurontario LRT, and possibly one or two more transit projects in southern Ontario (e.g. Hamilton LRT, which still requires funding from the province, or the second phase Ion Rapid Transit currently under construction in Waterloo).
All in all, this is great news for GTA and Ontario, especially when many of these transit projects will be occurring outside Toronto in surrounding cities such as Mississauga, Brampton, Waterloo, and Hamilton. When all built, this will form a very nice regional rapid transit/LRT network, backed by a faster and more frequent GO Regional Express Rail. Finally a step in the right direction.
By looking at those pictures, I don't think LRT is such a great idea, given how long the winter is in GTA ( and how much snow we could get), the cost of cleaning up the snow and the cost caused by weather related delay will be inevitable ( and potentially really high). I would much prefer subway if I am forced to pay tax for it. I also think that's part of the reason why Olivia Chow lost the election because she was advocating LRT really hard during her campaign.
By looking at those pictures, I don't think LRT is such a great idea, given how long the winter is in GTA ( and how much snow we could get), the cost of cleaning up the snow and the cost caused by weather related delay will be inevitable ( and potentially really high). I would much prefer subway if I am forced to pay tax for it. I also think that's part of the reason why Olivia Chow lost the election because she was advocating LRT really hard during her campaign.
If I'm not mistaken, Olivia Chow was advocating for downtown relief line and nothing else. I was at a mayoral debate last September and the downtown relief line was all she talked about, not a word about LRT... In fact it was John Tory who was advocating his "surface subway" (aka Smart Track) and won the election.
Subway along Hurontario and Brampton is simply financially and economically unfeasible. Currently Hurontario gets about 5000 passengers per hour via its bus network in peak hours. In order to qualify for subway line, a corridor has to reach at least 15,000 in passengers per hour during peak periods. Given how spread out and car-centric Mississauga is right now, it's highly unlikely it will be able to produce that kind of high ridership numbers to justify for a subway line.
If Mississauga were to go with a subway option, the 23 km would most likely cost the city and province an untenable amount, given how expensive and convoluted recent subway extensions have been like in neighboring Toronto. For example, the Scarborough Subway of a mere 7 km will cost the taxpayers $3 billion in construction cost - $1.48 billion from provincial government, $660 million from the federal government, and a controversial 1.6% property tax levy for the city of Toronto. All this for just a "3-stop subway" that is 1/3 of the length of the current Hurontario LRT which will cover 23 km and 26 stations with half the price tag of Scarborough subway.
If we went with the subway option, it could cost the province close to $10 billion or more in construction cost to cover 23 km of underground subway. Entirely unfeasible and unrealistic.
The LRT concept is also widely used in many Nordic cities and countries with colder climates. I was in Stockholm this February and rode its LRT system, and encountered no problems whatsoever under freezing conditions with snow and ice. In fact the Stockholm line had high frequency and very high ridership even in the dead of winter.
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