Transit City Revisited

Back when Toronto’s Transit City proposal for a new network of light-rail transit lines was first announced, I and many others had a bit of a laugh over the fact that it was a plan without money. So here’s a belated update: just before I went away on vacation last week, the McGuinty government announced its transit vision for southern Ontario, which includes a promise to fund two-thirds of the cost of Transit City. So now we know why the city rushed Transit City into being—it wasn’t for the federal or provincial budgets, but because the provincial Liberals wanted a plan they could fund come election time.

There’s a lively and active discussion about the Liberals’ plan all over the Web. Steve Munro, who knows far more about this issue that most, puts the plan under the microscope. And James Bow mused aloud on the electioneering aspects of the announcement, only to get roughed up by this guy. Campaign’s heating up.