The Toronto Transit Commission's bus #1303, a Daimler Buses North America/Orion Bus Industries Orion 07.501 "VII" NG HEV, travels west along St. Clair Avenue East on the 102 Markham Road route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Greater Toronto Area supports a local sales tax dedicated to public transit and other infrastructure by 74%. Just when you though the transit debate was over in Toronto, we may be in for another round. In one corner Mayor Rob Ford who wants subways without taxes and on the other side council who wants taxes but no subways. As I said before there must be some compromise, but so far egos are prevailing. Both sides want to win, at the expense of others. If we plan on creating subways, with taxes, we should first look into a Downtown Relief Line and get something to help the Yonge line. I remember a while back wondering why council never looked into sending the Sheppard line south, through the Don Valley overground and running express to downtown; connecting at possibly York Mills, Lawrence, Eglinton and then express downtown. It should be interesting to see what debate turns up in Toronto council regarding this poll. Maybe we should forget Toronto and just fund transit initiatives in Peel, York and Durham region. It should be another interesting month in the G.T.A.
Related articles
- 74% support small sales tax hike if money goes to transit: poll (theglobeandmail.com)
- Subway or LRT for TTC: Prime Minister Stephen Harper prefers subways (thestar.com)
- ‘It’s all about subways,’ Rob Ford tells City Hall scrum (news.nationalpost.com)
- New Light Rail Line Approved In Toronto Over Mayor’s Objections in the Continuing War On The Car (treehugger.com)
Hello, thank you for the interesting article. I do agree that subways are much more efficient and encourage increased ridership in the long term. I was wondering, do you know what poll was this survey conducted from? Thank you so much for your reply. I would be very interested to find out. 🙂
From what I have read the poll was conducted by Environics for urban planning magazine Spacing. You can also reference the same information from the following sites. http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120419/120419_Transit_Poll/20120419/?hub=CP24Home
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/04/18/gta-regional-sales-tax-toronto657.html
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/74-in-toronto-area-support-small-sales-tax-hike-if-money-goes-to-transit-poll/article2406982/?service=mobile
I support subways where the density and ridership can justify the need for them and some operating costs can be recuperated through the fare box. Building subways in the suburbs is a rediculous idea and I do not support it. We all prefer riding a subway, but unfortunately it isn’t always a logical viable mode of transport for all areas. I will throw Scarborough a bone and say I do support extending the Bloor line on the SRT route. The DLR is most certainly necessary and will be better used and service many.
Based on recent info. I would have to now agree.