It looks like there’s gridlock on Yonge Street north of Steeles,
but it’s not just traffic that’s stuck -- it’s new transit projects.
Both GO Transit and the York Region government are trying to move
ahead with express bus proposals on various corridors in this
congested suburban region, but a dispute has developed over which
projects have priority. A GO report suggests that if York Region
buys $8 million worth of new buses for service from Richmond Hill to
Newmarket on Yonge St. and from Markham into Toronto, the routes
would duplicate existing GO service. Should enough people want to
ride, the York routes could eventually be converted to light rail.
With funds
promised by the federal and provincial governments, York Region
wants to spend $150 million on “QuickStart” bus routes along Yonge
St. and Highway 7, eventually linking Vaughan with York University
and Markham with Don Mills subway station. GO Transit also has plans
to install GTA-wide Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines that would pass
through York Region.
To placate the
parties, provincial transportation minister Harinder Takhar spoke
with representatives of York Region and GO Transit yesterday. His
spokesperson Danna O’Brien says that “GO was suggesting that because
part of the QuickStart program involves buses going along Yonge
Street, that there’s a competition along one of four corridors --
but that’s not the case at all. GO and the York rapid transit system
will complement one another. We do need both to accommodate rapid
growth in that area.” She adds, “I think there is an understanding
they need to work together.”
York and GO are
not the only two bodies looking to build new transit services.
Brampton and Mississauga also have plans for BRT lines, and the City
of Toronto has a whole list of ways to beef up transit ridership,
including buses, light rail and subways. To coordinate all these
demands, some of which appear to overlap, the province is creating
the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, to take over not only
transit but highway planning.
Says O’Brien,
“The province is committed to the GTTA and it will play a key role
in coordinating and integrating transit services such as GO and
York. Up until now, everyone has been looking at so many different
things in isolation -- that is the point of the GTTA, and it’s
getting into the consultation period now.”
David Caplan,
the minister of the newly created Ministry of Public Infrastructure
Renewal, tells In Transit that “A body like a GTTA is your actual
vehicle to be able to coordinate, to resolve some of the conflicts
that you can get between various transit providers.” He says the
provincial government has been taking stock of what is needed to
address gridlock, and has brought together eight ministries to
concoct a single plan. It may not have a flashy name, but the
province’s “growth management strategy” could be crucial to
improving commutes.
Caplan says, “A
lot of what happened over the years has been very haphazard, there’s
been no coordination. What growth management -- in the U.S. they use
the term ‘smart growth’ -- does is draw these things together.
Environmental protection, employment, land use planning,
transportation -- marry them together so you get a coherent plan.
You actually have the ability to implement them, as opposed to,
‘Well gee, we have this election coming up, let’s throw a few
dollars at it.’ The GTTA is a big component -- it’s the
transportation piece of a growth management strategy.”
For the last
decade, the only body consistently focused on transportation
planning in the GTA has been the GO Transit board, made up of senior
municipal politicians. At today’s meeting in downtown Toronto, the
appointment of four new members will bring even greater expertise to
the provincial agency. Unabashedly pro-transit, Toronto Mayor David
Miller will be the highest official from his city to ever take part
in GO decisions. University of Toronto traffic expert Baher Abdulhai
will also join, and two more GTA mayors are expected to round out
the boardroom’s table.
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