Public Transit | torontolife.com

The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com

All stories relating to Public Transit

Rob Ford’s re-election campaign seems to be off to a good start, continuing the imaginary fight for subways

The Globe and Mail says the conflicting messages from Dalton McGuinty and Rob Ford on the transit file are enough to make the two politicians “sound like players in a game of broken telephone.” The premier maintains that the province intends to follow the lead of city council, while the mayor, who claimed council’s decision to revert to a light rail–based, Transit City–esque plan earlier this month was “irrelevant,” suggests it’s “political suicide” for McGuinty to side with council (i.e., Toronto’s elected body of political representatives). However, we suspect that the disconnect is less about miscommunication than it is about misinformation. Ford seems hell-bent on running a re-election campaign—yes, already—on the idea that he’s fighting the naysayers at city council to give the people the subways they so dearly desire. And if he can take that fight to Queen’s Park’s doorstep too, we figure by his own (likely flawed) logic that can only help his chances. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

(Image: Rob Ford, West Annex News; Dalton McGuinty, Communitech Photos; tin cans, Fairy Heart ♥)

The Informer

Ford Focus

February 27, 2012 | 5:15 pm

6 Comments

St. Clair streetcar (rather conveniently) impedes Rob Ford on his way to talk about the evils of streetcars

Apparently, the St. Clair right-of-way snarled traffic so badly that Rob Ford was almost late for his first spot as the co-host of CFRB’s The City on Sunday. Given that so far Ford’s radio show feels like a long-winded campaign ad (and a painfully dull one at that), we wonder what will make him late next week. The land transfer tax? A bike lane? Twenty-two superfluous councillors? Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »

The Informer

Ford Focus

February 27, 2012 | 3:45 pm

4 Comments

Rob Ford bores everybody with his campaign ad disguised as a radio show

Rob and Doug Ford’s radio program is painfully dull (Image: Christopher Drost)

At the outset of Rob Ford and brother Doug’s maiden voyage as hosts of CFRB 1010’s The City, Councillor Doug issued a warning to listeners: “Fasten your seatbelt, because we’re going for a ride.” We figured that ride would be loud, brash and, at the very least, entertaining, given we were dealing with the Brothers Ford—Rob even warned listeners that he wasn’t responsible for the crazy things Doug might do on air. Disappointingly, though, the show didn’t end up being any of those things. It felt more like a thinly veiled, two-hour-long ad campaign—and a boring one at that.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 15, 2012 | 4:00 pm

5 Comments

A report says something everybody already knew: there’s no rationale for building the Sheppard subway

Toronto Star columnist Royson James got his hands on an unreleased report that pretty much dismantles any rationale for building a subway linking Scarborough and North York. The paper is calling it the “TTC subway report Mayor Rob Ford doesn’t want you to read,” and it’s probably an appropriate title. While Ford clings to his Sheppard subway fantasy, the report notes that with job growth in the inner suburbs dramatically lower than expected, office development sluggish and the existing ridership on Sheppard below capacity (despite the influx of new condos along the strip), there simply isn’t a case for building a subway between the two centres. We already knew the city couldn’t fund the Sheppard extension; now it appears there isn’t even a good reason to build it in the first place. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

(Images: Rob Ford, Christopher Drost; Yonge-Sheppard subway, gloom)

The Informer

In Transit

February 15, 2012 | 2:35 pm

Comments

Scarborough MPPs politely decline trip on the Ford brothers train

While Rob and Doug Ford ramp up their campaign to save subways that don’t yet exist, some Scarborough Liberals aren’t having any of it. The Toronto Sun spoke to a pair of provincial Liberal cabinet ministers who each acknowledge the importance of getting shovels in the ground for public transit in Toronto, while politely declining to get on board the mayor’s gravy train campaign. Sure, the views of a couple of cabinet ministers might not make much difference, given that the premier has already said he’ll respect the wishes of council, which formally endorsed an LRT-based transit plan earlier this month. But it’s nice to know that MPPs aren’t playing along with that well-worn strategy of using transit as a wedge between downtown and the burbs. Well, most of them aren’t, at least. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »

The Informer

Ford Focus

February 14, 2012 | 1:25 pm

6 Comments

“Save Our Subways:” Doug Ford’s grassroots campaign that sounds more like a desperate call for help

Ever committed to building underground transit and using phone calls from constituents as a reliable measure of public opinion, Doug Ford says he’s launching a campaign to save the Rob Ford subway plan. Councillor Ford is dubbing the campaign “Save Our Subways”—or S.O.S. for short. Given the mayor’s sinking support among city councillors and voters alike, playing on the universal signal for distress seems appropriate. Though perhaps not exactly the message the Fords intended. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

(Images: Rob Ford and Doug Ford, Christopher Drost; ocean, David Sifry; subway car, Buddahbless)

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 13, 2012 | 3:05 pm

2 Comments

Rob Ford’s beloved Sheppard subway wastes more of experts’ time

For all the debate around public transportation of late, the city has little more to show for it than a pile of feasibility studies and an overload of recommendations from expert panels. Case in point: University of Toronto academic Eric Miller, who sits on the panel tasked with examining Rob Ford’s failed Sheppard subway strategy, tells the Star’s Christopher Hume that Toronto transit planning is a “mess,” and he’s doubtful the city can justify earmarking funds for the Sheppard extension. The panel is supposed to deliver its report on March 21, but we’re guessing the result will produce little more than the same tired song and dance: the Sheppard subway as proposed is deemed unrealistic; Ford cries foul, stalls and asks for further examination; the proposal is examined further; further examination reveals that the Sheppard subway is—surprise, surprise—still not realistic. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

(Images: Rob Ford, Christopher Drost; Yonge-Sheppard subway, gloom)

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 10, 2012 | 3:55 pm

3 Comments

Karen Stintz praises and supports Rob Ford, who responds by calling her a backstabber

Even if he wanted to, it looks like Rob Ford won’t be able to can Karen Stintz as chair of the TTC, and—perhaps fittingly—it’s essentially his own fault. The Toronto Sun points out that Ford and his colleagues approved changes last year that mean only city council can now fire Stintz. And if Wednesday’s vote is any indication, council is satisfied with the job Stintz is doing. Ford, on the other hand, feels that Stintz betrayed him and claims, “She stabbed me in the back.” Despite the mayor’s choice words, the TTC chair refuses to speak ill of Ford, insisting she has no intention of running against him in the future while denying that the defeat she handed him is tantamount to a non-confidence vote. In other words, she’s displaying a level of political skill and personal grace that has been absent at city hall under the current administration. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

(Images: Rob Ford, Christopher Drost; Karen Stintz, Mike Beltzner)

The Informer

Political Whoas

February 10, 2012 | 1:05 pm

11 Comments

Dalton McGuinty says council is supreme; Tim Hudak says it should be ignored

Apparently, no amount of midnight subway riding will help Rob Ford convince Dalton McGuinty to contravene city council and build his beloved subways. After Ford’s transit plan was defeated in favour of light-rail transit and an above-grade Eglinton LRT at a special council meeting earlier this week, Ford declared the collective will of his colleagues “irrelevant” and suggested the province would agree with him. McGuinty quickly responded, countering that he actually doesn’t agree with him at all.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Ford Focus

February 9, 2012 | 5:15 pm

2 Comments

Things get weird: Rob Ford takes comfort in a midnight ride on the TTC

(Image: Christopher Drost)

After his transit plan was defeated at yesterday’s special council meeting, Rob Ford hopped on the TTC and rode straight into the open arms of his supposed supporters: the good people of Scarborough. According to some late-night tweets from a Ford staffer (who else?), the mayor was riding the Eglinton SRT until 1 a.m., followed by a ride on an Eglinton bus around 2 a.m. We know talking to the people—and occasionally moving their sand—energizes Ford, so perhaps this is his photo-friendly way of licking his wounds (hey, it’s better than pounding back a bottle of Wild Turkey in his undies). Or maybe he’s trying to rally his Scarborough troops while he “forges ahead” with his defeated transit plan—for some reason, there’s already talk of a referendum. Either way, we like the good folks at Reddit’s idea for his next transit trip: a ride on the Finch bus during rush hour. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »

The Informer

Political Whoas

February 9, 2012 | 4:25 pm

4 Comments

Quoted: Frank Di Giorgio says something dumb about the “nation’s capital”

This is the capital of Canada. This is not Minneapolis; this is not Houston.

—Councillor Frank Di Giorgio, speaking out against LRTs at yesterday’s council meeting, appears to have gotten a little confused. He’s right—Toronto isn’t Minneapolis or Houston. Unfortunately, though, it isn’t the capital of Canada—even if it often acts like it is.

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 9, 2012 | 4:05 pm

8 Comments

Rob Ford doesn’t get his way at council—so he deems the whole proceedings “irrelevant”

After a lengthy special council meeting to debate the city’s overarching transit plan, where Rob Ford and his allies repeatedly and passionately championed the mayor’s “I’m building subways” proposal, Ford declared that the whole meeting was irrelevant. Of course, what the mayor really meant was that he found the final vote—to support a return to a light rail–based, decidedly above-ground transit plan—irrelevant.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 8, 2012 | 4:20 pm

1 Comment

Royson James on the political intrigue and backroom deals in the fight over Toronto transit

Toronto Star columnist Royson James writes the acrimonious transit spat the city is currently embroiled in is a mere squabble compared to a broader backroom plan to “emasculate” and “tame” the TTC. According to James—and his unnamed sources—Metrolinx, Queen’s Park, and the mayor’s office all want to oust TTC manager Gary Webster and to fire TTC chair Karen Stintz for failing to get rid of him (her recent campaign against Rob Ford’s transit proposal certainly couldn’t have helped her cause either). For some of the alleged co-conspirators, the end game is privatizing much of the transit commission, which they view as uncooperative, ineffective and generally impotent. James even offers that Metrolinx secretly prefers putting the Eglinton Crosstown underground, and that the regional agency is actually the one pushing that agenda forward behind the scenes. It seems, as James puts it, “while officials play nice in public, in private the knives come out.” Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

February 8, 2012 | 11:25 am

11 Comments

Karen Stintz calls for transit sanity; Giorgio Mammoliti calls for the opposite (i.e. a Finch subway)

Early reports from city hall suggest Rob Ford and the rest of council are in for a transit-themed slugfest at today’s special council meeting. Karen Stintz, who started the whole brouhaha when she said what everyone already knew about Ford’s grand vision to bury the Eglinton Crosstown, has already made her recommendations. In short, she wants council to reaffirm its support for LRT lines on Finch and Eglinton, convert the Scarborough RT to an LRT line with an extension to the Malvern Town Centre (as funds become available) and establish an expert advisory panel regarding transit on Sheppard Avenue. Meanwhile, Giorgio Mammoliti—and only Giorgio Mammoliti—wants a subway on Finch. Watch the proceedings live here »

(Images: Karen Stintz, Mike Beltzner; Giorgio Mammoliti, Christopher Drost)

Too bad Matt Elliott’s Transit City bingo card doesn’t include a cash prize—because Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy would’ve claimed it before the game even really started. In the pages of the paper this morning, Levy’s recycling of Rob Ford’s tried-and-true talking points scored her an easy B-I-N-G-O along the top row, and council’s special session on the city’s transit plan hadn’t even yet begun. Of course, given the rancorous debate on the issue so far, we’re sure Levy won’t be the only winner today. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »

All stories relating to Public Transit

Contests

Links and Offers

The latest from across the St. Joseph Media network