No, it wasn’t an elaborate April Fools Day joke…

On April 1st, the Government of Ontario announced funding a collection of transit projects across the GTHA. While many of the projects are in the central parts of the region, and there has been some criticism of this fact, these are the projects that are closest groundbreaking – some will see construction start next year. We can’t forget that we need to build a region-wide network, but we need to start somewhere.

Here’s what was announced: (more…)

When the budget dropped last week I began to wonder why the province hadn’t been very specific on which transit projects were going to be funded. Usually they are very specific and it made me wonder if something big was coming down the pipe…

Today the Province introduced The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area Transit Implementation Act, which makes very important changes to Metrolinx, GO Transit, and potentially transit across the region. This proposed law, which has passed first reading in the legislature, has (according to the press release), a few key elements: (more…)

Metrolinx has posted the final version of the Regional Transportation Plan and Investment Strategy on their website. The Plan goes before the board this Friday for approval. The meeting will be held at the Metro Convention Centre, November 28 at 10:00 a.m.

Links, so you don’t have to dig through the agenda:

• Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan (Final)
• 15 Year Map
• 25 Year Map
• 2009/2010 and Five-Year Capital Investment Plan
• There is also an interesting report on the Cost of Congestion in the GTHA

Today is the final day for official public comment on Metrolinx’ draft Regional Transportation Plan and Investment Strategy.  Metronauts blog authors are submitting their posts, along with readers comments, into the Metrolinx Limehouse public consultation portal.

You should really take the opportunity to leave your comments on the Metrolinx site. The RTP and IS documents are there and a series of questions are open for public comment. The future of $50 billion in investment and a future of sustainable transportation are up for grabs, so the time is now.

If you’re a blogger that’s been writing on these issues for some time, I encourage you to submit a summary of your posts along with links to the originals. This appears to be the most efficient way to get your thoughts and the comments of your readers onto the official public record.

Highway 407 Electronic Tolling System
[Source: C. Moy on Flickr]

The Draft Investment Strategy released by Metrolinx sets out a funding framework to deliver  $50 billion in transportation improvements over 25 years. Metrolinx is looking for your feedback. This is your region and your future. I encourage you to weigh-in on what is proposed.

Todd Litman’s recent post on planetizen discusses the costs of different modes of transportation. One conclusion is that “if a typical household shifts from driving everywhere (what we call, automobile dependency) to multi-modalism (using a combination of travel modes) and so is able shed one vehicle, the savings typically average about $5,000 annually. If these savings were invested each year over a typical 45 year working career, the household will retire about a million dollars wealthier.” There’s motivation for ya!

Research by Metrolinx finds that on average, people in the GTAH spending about $70 per week on transportation. Initially, the projects in the Regional Transportation Plan will cost about $155 per year per person in the GTHA, and reach $470 per year per person in 2033. When you break it down like this, $50 billion doesn’t sound so bad.

QUESTION: How much do you spend on transportation within the GTHA in a given week on items such as gas, parking, transit fares, cabs and tolls?  How much more would you be willing to pay per week in order to reduce your travel time, improve the reliability and predictability of your travel time, and/or improve the quality of your travel experience?

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In my job as transit columnist for the free commuter daily Metro, I get to learn about the workings of the GTA transport system directly from public officials. I call them up, ask a lot of questions and try to fit a tiny portion of the answers into my weekly column. In turn I rely on transit advocates to fill in the blanks as well as describe their first-hand experiences aboard streetcars, buses and trains.

My ideal of a proper discussion has these two groups in the same place at the same time, plus anyone else with an interest in urban mobility.

When I first envisioned a series of meetings to explore the Metrolinx regional transport plan, I hoped to huddle with a few advocates and get their perspective on the process and the results so far. I wanted to hear about the parts of “The Big Move” that need greater attention.

Along the way it became clear that some kind of official involvement would greatly aid the discussion, but that hasn’t proved easy. Since the draft RTP was released, Metrolinx staff have been particularly busy with stakeholder and public consultation meetings. Next comes preparing the plan for approval at the agency’s board meeting on November 28.

That said, there are still a lot of questions worth asking about how the Big Move will work, and I’m holding three more unofficial meetings before the expected board vote — each on Tuesday nights at Metro Hall in downtown Toronto. I’m hoping to convince Metrolinx and other public officials to attend subsequent meetings.

Tonight, Tuesday November 11, the session deals with paying to ride: How will GTA transit fares affect the regional transport network? How can payment be better integrated and what could this mean to capacity throughout the greater transit network? Look below for some questions sent to Metrolinx, and the responses.

An earlier Metronauts entry, Two fares just doesn’t seem fair also explores some of the key issues.

If you’d like to continue this discussion in person, join me at Metro Hall, 55 John St. @ King in Room 303 at 7pm. (Details after the jump) (more…)

With the Metrolinx draft RTP out, lots of improvements to GO Train services are all over the map, including extensions, new lines, and express service improvements.  Such improvements are welcome, but as important are improvements to service along existing lines.  With the exceptions of Barrie and Lincolnville, GO Transit has been focused on adding stations to their existing lines instead of expanding to new lines or extending existing lines; Rutherford, East Gwillimbury, York University, Centennial, Mount Joy, Mount Pleasant, Lisgar, and Kennedy are all recent additions to the existing GO network, without extending the lines.  This focus that GO Transit has diligently been exercising over the last decade is a practice that should not be abandoned.  Creating a denser built-up region through adding stations to existing lines to provide greater service coverage within the current network is a strong tool against sprawl and its impacts, as GO service is attractive when it’s running.  Imagine if it ran frequently throughout the day.

In the case of the TTC with the Portlands, there is an expensive investment being made for brand new TOD neighbourhoods, as new infrastructure and entire communities are built from scratch.  This is necessary in an age where we are trying to create environments that are not dependent on the automobile.

GO Transit has the advantage of holding the opportunity of accomplishing similar for a comparatively low investment, as its lines are existing.  It’s not pennies, but it’s not a fortune either, and this is the psychology behind GO Transit’s original service concept in the first place… it’s also why they don’t own the tracks on most lines, but nevermind that (with any luck, that will partially change).

Transit has a lot of catching up to do in restoring mode competitiveness, which has been monopolized by the auto through the expressway network and the decommissioning of several rail lines around the region, of which Barrie was almost a victim.  This greatly hampers the ability to compete with the door-to-door advantage held by the auto.

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Metrolinx is conducting a series of public meetings around the region from October 20th through 30th. For more details and to register:

http://www.metrolinx.com/en/event.aspx

We encourage people to sign-up and learn the details of the plans for the future of Toronto region’s transportation infrastructure.

The Metrolinx Board will be meeting October 24th and November 28th, which is expected to be focused on the approval of the RTP.

What about the Metronauts community?

We’ve been eager to do another big unconference event for a while now, and I know many have been asking about it, but we haven’t been able to schedule one with Metrolinx’ support and involvement. I still hope we’ll be able to hold another major event soon.

Into the void, the indomitable Ed Drass has stepped up and got a weekly series of community meetings setup at Metro Hall in the coming weeks. We’ll be bringing a bit of that unconference magic to these, so we hope you can join us.

METRO HALL MEETINGS
55 John St. @ King St.
Room 303
Toronto

Tue., Oct. 14  5:45 pm  “What do you want to know about the Regional Transportation Plan?”
Tue., Oct. 21  7:00 pm   Topic TBA
Tue., Oct. 28  7:00 pm   Topic TBA

To be updated on these meetings, please send an email to Ed at

Join us for the conversation. We can use the TransitCamp.org Wiki to take notes from these sessions, so we’re looking for participants who can lead the conversation, ask good questions and capture the content of the sessions for sharing with the rest of the community. Volunteers with video cameras wanted!

Photo Source: Rannie Turingan

(Click image above for hi-res version)

As some of you already know, I have had the honour of sitting on Metrolinx’s Regional Transportation Plan Advisory Committee – a group of community representatives committed to providing the Metrolinx board with advice on the direction of the plan and analysis of the comments received by the public. In addition, we are committed to ensuring that the regional transportation plan public consultation process reaches everyone who has something to say. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for keeping the discussion alive, and I encourage all to continue offering ideas to make this plan the best it can be. There is are plenty of ways to get your voices heard, including the online portal, formal open houses to come this fall, and, of course, Metronauts events and the blog. Keep your eyes and ears open, as we’re about to enter a very exciting phase of the process.

Before I talk about the subject of this post, please keep in mind the following:

As I write this post (on thursday night), the draft plan has not yet been approved by the Metrolinx board of directors. As we saw with the white papers, the board could decide to delay the release to make modifications. I will be sure to update this post to reflect the formal decision of the board on Friday September 26th.

So here we go:

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This morning I attended the Metrolinx media preview of the draft Regional Transportation Plan (“RTP”) and Investment Strategy at the Delta Chelsea in Toronto, where chair Rob MacIsaac presented and took questions. Here’s how Metrolinx framed the media event:

The Big Move: Transforming Transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area

The headlines tomorrow will probably read something like “Metrolinx defers controversial revenue measures”. The most significant new information is that the Investment Strategy to fund Phases 1 ($750 million) and 2 ($17.5 billion) of the RTP through 2015 will be funded from existing commitments of Ontario provincial funding. Around 2013, the whole investment strategy for Phase 3 will be revisited, including consideration of the full gamut of revenue tools that were the source of some controversy during recent leaks. Rob MacIsaac explained that the people of the GTA and Hamilton need to see some real change on the ground before they will back any new ask for additional public investment.

Andrae was there, and he’ll be doing a more thoughtful post on the contents of these draft plans for Friday.

This post is about me watching the watchers. How does Media think about and inform the majority of the public who will never attend a public meeting or download a PDF? Most citizens will never dive into planning documents with gusto.  I think the questions that were asked provide some clues to how the media will frame this next period of conversation around Metrolinx plans.

My reflections and analysis after the jump… (more…)

The long awaited day is almost here with the release of the Draft Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan and Investment Strategy. The plan will be previewed to the media on Tuesday before being presented to the Board at its meeting on September 26th. The press release for the RTP media preview event is available here.

UPDATE (Sept. 23, 10:45am): The Draft Regional Transportation Plan is now available online here

UPDATE (Sept. 23, 12:00pm): The RTP Draft Investment Strategy is also online here

Without going into specific projects, what do you hope to see in the draft plan?