2013 Newsletters “Ontario Report” Available for Public Viewing

By Transport Action Ontario | Ontario Report

The November-December, 2013 Ontario Report is now available for public viewing:

Transport Action Ontario Report 2013NovDec

The September-October, 2013 Ontario Report is now available for viewing:

Transport Action Ontario Report 2013Sept-Oct

The July – August, 2013 Ontario Report is now available for public viewing here.

The May – June, 2013 Ontario Report is now available for public viewing here.

The April – May, 2013  Ontario Report is now available for public viewing here

The January – February, 2013 Ontario Report is now available for public viewing here.

Pembina Institute Issues Analysis of GTHA Transit Investment and Expansion Plans from Ontario’s Major Political Parties

By Transport Action Ontario | Urban Transit

As readers know, Transport Action Ontario is part of the “Move the GTHA” collaborative of non-government organizations that is working towards improving public and political acceptance of new revenue tools for transportation.  The collaborative also includes Pembina Institute.

Pembina has just released an interim analysis of GTHA transit investment and expansion plans from Ontario’s major political parties:  Liberal Party, New Democratic Party and Progressive Conservative Party.   Four guiding principles were used as the criteria for the analysis:

• Rapid transit for the whole region
• New dollars for new transit
• Creating a dedicated fund for transit and transportation
• Fast-tracking transit improvements

Evaluations of the parties’ current positions on each of these four topics were presented, and a score was assigned:  “On track for transit”, “Some forward movement”, and “Stuck in traffic”.

The Pembina report can be read here

VIA Rail Canada Act introduced by Olivia Chow, M.P.

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus

On March 3, 2014, NDP MP Olivia Chow introduced Bill C-577, an Act respecting VIA Rail Canada.  This private member’s bill is comprehensive.  It requires the maintenance of VIA’s route system prior to the 2012 cuts, it gives VIA trains scheduling and operational preference over freight services, adds resolution protocols if disputes between VIA and other railways, requires public consultation, and more.  It is an encouraging first step to meeting a pressing need for a national passenger rail act in Canada.

The act can be viewed here</>

Olivia Chow had reached out to Transport Action Ontario (TAO) last fall and asked us to comment on earlier drafts of this Bill.  We engaged our colleague Greg Gormick, independent consultant, for this work.   Greg is extremely knowledgeable in this area and we felt he would have valuable comments.   Greg produced two memos, one for each draft of the bill, in November and December, 2013, which were forwarded to Olivia Chow and her staff.

TAO-NDP VIA Rail Canada Act Draft2 Review 131212

TAO-NDP VIA Rail Canada Act Draft1 Review 131129

There was one item in Greg’s December memo that raised some controversy within TAO.  This was with regards to the relocation of VIA’s headquarters out of Montreal.  We wish to clarify that this opinion was based on a statement in the cited government report, and does not reflect the position of TAO.   TAO has no position on where the headquarters of VIA should or should not be located.

Gardiner Expressway Reconfiguration Environmental Assessment

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges

The future of Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway, between Jarvis Street and the Don Valley Parkway (2.4 km), has been an active subject of discussion within the City and Greater Toronto Region for many years now.   In 2010, Waterfront Toronto and the City initiated an environmental assessment (EA), which was put on hold following the municipal elections in late 2010.  The EA was restarted in early 2013.  A good summary of the issue and the alternatives in the EA is presented in our “From the President” report in our November-December, 2012 newsletter.

Transport Action Ontario (TAO) has been involved in the “Future of the Gardiner” stakeholder advisory committee since 2010.   In fact, three board members sit on the committee – one representing TAO and two representing other non government organizations.  Starting in spring, 2013, the committee and staff worked very hard to assess and refine the alternatives.   This culminated in the City’s Staff Report of February 21, 2014 which recommended the “Remove” option.  The staff report will be discussed by Toronto Public Works Committee and Council  in March.

TAO endorses the staff report and the recommendations therein.  We note that the “Remove” option was clearly preferred in three of the four screening lenses – urban design, environment and economics.  For the fourth lens – transportation and infrastructure – all four alternatives had roughly the same score.

TAO submitted comments to the Public Works committee endorsing the staff recommendation and asking that staff be granted the authority to proceed with developing detailed design solutions associated with the “Remove” option.   The comments can be viewed here:    TAO-GardinerSubmission2014-03-02

Presentation to Toronto Planning and Growth Management Cttee. on Regional Rapid Rail

By Transport Action Ontario | Urban Transit

On February 27, Transport Action Ontario representatives made a presentation to Toronto City Council’s Planning and Growth Management (P&GM) Committee concerning our July, 2013 report on “GTHA Regional Rapid Rail:  A Vision for the Future.”  This was in response to a request made by the Chair, Councillor Peter Milczyn.

Since its release, Transport Action has discussed the report with dozens of elected officials at the municipal, provincial and federal level across the entire Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, as well as to municipal transit and planning agencies.  The response has typically been very positive.  In late November, 2013, Toronto City Council voted overwhelmingly to direct planning staff to consider the report’s findings in the Official Plan review.

The P&GM presentation can be viewed here: TAO-TorontoP&GM-2014-02-27