We are a group of Torontonians whose goal is to get as many people as possible involved in the upcoming mayoral election. We hope by providing information about candidates, discussing and critiquing their policies and positions we help other Torontonians to make a well informed decision. We are not affiliated with any of the candidates and we aim to stay unbiased in our views.
Reading the previous post made me realize that the candidates in this race have missed a lot of issues. Toronto is a big city and in order to lead it, the mayor should have a well thought out plan that deals with all issues that are important to Torontonians, not just transportation and fiscal responsibility.
It is well documented that Toronto is the most diverse city in the world and a diverse population from all around the world are proud to call it home. This and other qualities have made Toronto one of the cultural hubs of the world, to an extent artists like Roger Waters and the Police have chosen this fair city to be the starting leg of their world tour. Yet, this city has failed to host a large scale international event for a long period of time now. So I would have loved to hear how each one of the candidates would tackle this issue. Nevertheless, attracting these events is not enough; as exhibited with this year’s Common Wealth games, a poorly organized event can have more damage on tourism, hence candidates should also come up with complementary plans that would show how they plan to support these events.
Arguably the most crucial piece of infrastructures that needs to be addressed before hosting any major events is our deteriorating water and wastewater infrastructure. Unfortunately due to years of neglects, these vital infrastructures have deteriorated to a point that the city along with the most of the country is facing a huge infrastructure deficit. So it is important for candidates to have a well thought out plan that considers all aspects of the implications of such monstrous
project, i.e. the road closures due to construction.
I know there are a lot of issues like the arts, police etc that I have missed, however feel free to add on it however you like.
As someone who has had a bit of experience in the field of transportation and has repeatedly been frustrated by the gridlock in this city, transportation plays an important role in my choice for mayor. This is because I believe that a proper transportation plan will be able to connect Toronto with our neighboring regions and will be able to drive the transportation costs down, hence decreasing the associated costs. This in turn will allow Toronto to become competitive with other areas in terms of operations costs and more businesses and jobs will be able to move to the city and increase our prosperity. That is why I extensively read and followed each candidate’s platform regarding transportation. Bellow, I have outlined a few of my observations and critiques on this matter; please feel free to comment and share your view on them.
My first and most important critique goes to all of the candidates who apparently have forgotten about the rotting eyesore that has so boldly ruined the connectivity of downtown Toronto to the beautiful waterfront. That is right; I am talking about the elevated in the room, Gardiner Expressway. Built over 50 years ago, Gardiner has clearly outlived its usefulness and has now become one of the most talked about issues of Toronto. However, this has seemed to escape all candidates altogether and no one has come out with a plan that aims at resolving this issue. That being said lets look at each candidate’s transportation plans separately:
Rob Ford:
Rob’s plans have been the most controversial amongst the candidates. He plans to close subway loop at Scarborough Town Centre, with extending the Sheppard line and the Bloor line. He also plans to scarp the street cars/ light rails already contracted out by the city to put the funding into building more subway lines. His other plans include making the roads more vehicle friendly and to takeaway the bike lanes.
His plans follow the same suburban culture embraced by North Americans within the past few decades. His plans will only lead to more vehicular traffic on the road which ultimately leads to a heavier congestion. This plan also runs against his platform of being the champion of the poor as he is moving away from public transit which is the more affordable and accessible form of transportation.
The proposed extension of the subway line also does not take into consideration the growth pattern of the municipality (north) and aims at extending an already underutilized line. Also affordability and constructability of the system become important issues with this plan as some of the budget he is allocating for it has been set aside for other purposes and the time line of the proposal is not probable.
Sarah Thomson:
Her campaign mainly runs on the promise of more bike lanes and an extended subway line. Although these two modes of transportation have the potential to significantly reduce from the congestion and gridlock of Toronto’s rush hour traffic, her plans fall short of realistically achieving that goal.
Bike lanes and subway system are effective only if they are supplemented by additional modes of transportation which can allow travelers to reach destinations that are hard/ impossible to reach with those modes of transportation alone. Her plan fails to specify how these subway extensions will be connected to the final destinations through a network of busses and streetcars.
However it would be unfair not to applaud her for her vision to extend the Yonge line further north to Steeles Ave. as this will connect Toronto to York Region and will allow for further growth and expansion into that region.
George Smitherman:
His plan is an integrated combination of subways, LRTs and streetcars. The proposed two phase plan follows the Metrolinx’s plans combined with expansion of the subway system. In his plans he mentions that he will now wage war against the Torontonian drivers and will plan in a way that would reduce the burden on them. This seems plausible if he implements his transit plan in a way that would reduce the vehicular demand and attracts more people towards transit. However his plan doesn’t include a strategy for expanding the subway north on the Yonge line and connecting Toronto to York Region.
His plan to implement pedestrian and cyclist pathways are also a step in the right direction as it promotes people to use alternative modes of transportation which could ultimately lessen the demand on our road infrastructure. This combined with the transit plans have the potential to lessen the congestion that Torontonians experience everyday, which could in turn attract more businesses and jobs into Toronto.
Rocco Rossi:
Rocco’s plan involves extension of Allen Expressway to Gardiner expressway, expansion of the subway system and appointment of a construction Czar to oversee road constructions.
For the first two parts of his plan, they seem to be completely unplanned and without any scientific basis as to why he would expand the road network and the subway network the way that he is proposing. It is important to note that expansion of Allen Expressway to Gardiner, will only add to the problems of Gardiner and will divert more vehicular traffic towards downtown Toronto. Also this extension would take away demand from the current expansion of the subway system along the Spadina line and will under utilize the new subway line. His planned extension of subway line also does nothing to connect Toronto to its surrounding neighbors and it does nothing to ease the commute problem for people travelling to Toronto for work purposes, which at the end will result in more businesses moving away from Toronto.
With all that being said, his last proposal hits the nail on the head, as more innovative methods of overseeing the construction process can reduce the time and cost overruns. With appointment of Czar, there is potential to hold contractors responsible for unnecessary changes and delays and it has the potential to save the municipality millions of dollars in terms of savings and travel times.
Joe Pantalone:
His transportation plans are basically those of TransitCity’s. This plan has already gone under several stages of studies and the province has already promised fund for implementation of this plan. There isn’t really much left to critique that hasn’t already been said. However, it should be pointed out that this plan, as with Rossi’s plan fails to connect Toronto to the neighboring communities and that might hinder Toronto’s ability to attract new businesses.
*The Author of this article requested to remain anonymous but in terms of qualifications he holds a BASc. in Civil Engineering.
While the Municipal Government has a significant role in policy making and implementing regulations that affect our daily lives, in the last Mayoral Election in Toronto only 39% of eligible voters participated in the election. We believe that to guarantee the long term prosperity of our City Torontonians must participate more actively in the upcoming municipal election.
Our goal as a group of young Torontonians is to get people involved in the upcoming mayoral election and to provide them information about candidates, discuss and critique their policies and positions. We hope that by doing this we can help Torontonians to make a well informed decision. We need your help in fulfilling this task so feel free to contribute to this page: participate in the discussions, comment on the posts, post any related link and PLEASE spread the word and ask your friends to join this page.
