John Tory celebrates the fact that Queen’s Park has noticed SmartTrack
Normal guy and Toronto mayor John Tory spent some of Thursday celebrating what he said was a milestone for his mayoralty: a mention, deep within the newly released 2015 Ontario budget, of his SmartTrack transit plan. “I’m very much viewing this as very significant progress,” Tory told reporters. “If it’s not happening, why is it in their budget?” The answer to Tory’s rhetorical question is that Queen’s Park had been planning to make improvements to Toronto’s regional rail corridors long before SmartTrack existed as a concept. So, although the budget mentions funding for express rail, it’s all money that would probably have been spent regardless of who happened to be mayor. Tory still has a multi-billion-dollar budget hole to fill before the project stands a chance of being built, meaning what he’s actually celebrating, right now, is the status quo.
You know what? After so many years of circus activity at City Hall, I’m very much okay with the Normal Guy.
“Queen’s Park had been planning to make improvements to Toronto’s regional rail corridors long before SmartTrack existed as a concept.”
This is true but as least Tory came up with an idea of using existing infrastructure. Ford just wants subways, which we all do but have no means to fund it. Subways only make sense in areas where there is demand for ridership. Under Ford, the budget would not have further his pledge for more subways. At least we can look forward to SmartTrack coming to fruition.
Yes exactly. At least we are not hearing stories today about a drunken mayor making advances at people and being loud and boorish in public, having to be carried out and driven home at last night’s dinner for Chief Blair.
The two Scarborough routes (the north-south portion of the proposed new SmartTrack route and the proposed McCowan Road subway route) should not be seen as competitors to each other, but as complementary to each other, providing two options for all passehgers travelling on east-west arterial bus transit routes – The downtown relief subway line should be built first and opened first (to relieve congestion at Yonge and Bloor) – The Scarborough subway extension should be routed along McCowan Road and be scheduled to open shortly afterwards, and then SmartTrack track should be built afterwards