Category Archives for "Urban Transit"

Apr 02

GO Expansion – Details Emerge, Timing Slipping

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit

Transport Action Ontario has long been a strong supporter of the GO Expansion project, which proposes an ambitious plan to introduce 15 minute or better all-day two-way electrified passenger rail service on core portions of 5 GO lines, plus improved service on the remainder of the network.  However, as described in our posting of June 28, 2025, problems began to emerge last year with the termination of a contract with ONxpress Operations over “differences of opinion” and hints of “descoping”.  Few details were available.

In December, 2025, Metrolinx released a helpful high-level roadmap of the numerous steps needed to achieve its expansion goals, with a chart called Corridor “Missions” Guiding Incremental Growth.  For example, it identified 16 steps needed to achieve the mission on the Stouffville line, ranging from smaller items like station improvements and extra track to large system-wide missions like electrification, ETCS signaling and fleet procurement.  However, the chart showed no timing.

Further details have emerged in March, based on an internal staff report on fleet strategy obtained by the media. Based on these reports, electrification of the Lakeshore East and West lines is not planned until 2036, with other lines following.  Due to the numerous level crossings in the network, service will not involve short trains at very high frequencies (3 to 8 minute headways), but remains as longer trains with 15 minute headways. 

While the prolonged schedule is a disappointment, the Province does seem committed to the project and construction continues on many pieces.  In fact, Ontario is doing advance planning on a further expansion called GO 2.0 and is requesting federal support funding.

Feb 25

Lessons Learned from Eglinton Crosstown LRT Project

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Uncategorized , Urban Transit

The Toronto Eglinton Crosstown LRT (Line 5) started up on February 8, 2026 and has received mostly good reviews from the public.  However, as readers know, the $13 billion Design-Build-Finance-Maintain project was beset by many problems – $ 1 billion over budget, 6-years late, litigation, pandemic and community disruption.

There have been calls for a public inquiry, but Premier Ford has rejected this idea. There are also calls for an investigation by the Auditor General. A thorough review of the project could reveal opportunities for improvements in future Infrastructure Ontario projects to deliver on-time and on-budget.

At the Metrolinx board meeting of February 12, Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay spoke at length about lessons learned.  His remarks were not covered by the media, but are informative and summarized below:

  • Private sector partner (Crosslink Transit Solutions) underestimated the risk at the time of bid.  Their bid was based on a 30% design.  Metrolinx has now changed its contracting strategy and is using mostly progressive contracts, where the private partner and Metrolinx work cooperatively on the design to develop a final price.
  • Too much litigation.  As the project ran into trouble, the contracting partners turned to claims and litigation, rather than focusing on project completion.  More compromising is needed.
  • Slow approvals.  As there are always surprises in underground work, processes need to be in place for quick approvals of alternate plans.  For Line 5, the big surprise was discovering cavities dating back to the 1950s in the concrete station box under Eglinton subway station.
  • Need early focus on system integration.  There were interface issues between the civil infrastructure, the vehicles and the systems.  Need to focus early on final testing and commissioning.
  • Avoid commercial disputes within the private partner.  There were issues between the partners forming Crosslink and should have been avoided.
  • Need better public communications.  This includes cost ranges and schedule delays.

Mr. Lindsay said that Metrolinx has taken these learnings to heart and has implemented changes on its current projects, like the 4 subway projects current underway.  We certainly hope that is the case, and that the changes prove effective.  Metrolinx must also ensure that lessons learned are retained within the organisation and not lost due to institutional amnesia.

Jan 19

Submission to Ontario 2026 Budget Consultations

By Transport Action Ontario | Community Transit , Highways and Bridges , Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario , Urban Transit

Transport Action Ontario (TAO) has provided input into Ontario’s 2026 Budget as part of its consultation process. We limited our comments to public transportation needs. Our seven points are highlighted below:

  • Increase Ontario Transit Investment Fund. This fund is intended to support rural intercommunity bus service and is inadequate to meet the demand of our many smaller and rural municipalities.
  • Fund completion, publication and execution of the Southwestern Ontario Transportation Plan. This long-delayed plan needs to be finalized for this growing region.
  • Introduce provincial banking of discontinued rail corridors, ie “rail bank”. Although Ontario has introduced a Short Line Railway Investment Tax Credit, it has not acted on the equally important issue of railway segments (often owned by short line railways) being discontinued and not preserved as transportation corridors.
  • Deep dive into capital costs and procurement model for rapid transit in Ontario. Capital costs have been rising rapidly, threatening our ability to fund and construct additional important transit infrastructure.
  • Cancel Highway 413 and the proposed Highway 401 tunnel. A recent report, coauthored by TAO, shows that rapid transit in this part of the GTA would be at least twice as cost-effective than Highway 413 for moving people and goods.
  • Fund additions to “de-risk” the Northlander train service. We believe that auxiliary power should be available on each train, and that two sleeper cars should be added to each train set.
  • New Revenue tools. Municipalities need new tools, such as a portion of the provincial sales tax or a land transfer tax. The province needs to test road pricing as a proven means of congestion reduction and revenue generation.

Our full submission can be viewed below.

Dec 15

New Report: Transit over Traffic – Hard Truths for Addressing Gridlock in the GTHA

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Latest News , Major Reports , Urban Transit

Transport Action Ontario and Environmental Defence Canada have jointly published a major report on addressing gridlock in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). It makes the case that spending $80 billion on mega-highways like Highway 413 and the Highway 401 tunnel will make commutes worse, not better. Decades of experience across North America show that expanding urban highways (non-tolled) just induces more traffic. For the same $80 billion price tag, Ontario could build 400 km of new rapid transit.

The report makes the case that the best way to reduce gridlock is to reallocate highway funding to transit builds and also double transit service so people can “show up and go” without checking schedules. Cities where 30% of rush hour trips are by public transit have proven that this approach works to ease road congestion.

The report also uses Highway 413 as a case study – and demonstrates that putting $14 billion (the estimated capital cost of this highway) towards public transit investment instead of the highway would move more than double the number of commuters per hour.

The report recommends 5 bold actions:

  • Redirect capital funding from mega-highways to transit
  • Increase transit operating funding
  • Reverse car-enabling subsidies
  • Reduce tolls on Highway 407 for trucks as part of a region-wide road pricing scheme
  • Stop urban sprawl

The report can be viewed here:

Transit-over-Traffic-report-2025Download
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