Toronto Transit Commission OneCity
OneCity was a short-lived transit plan created by the Toronto Transit Commission on June 27, 2012. Chair Karen Stintz and Vice-Chair Glenn De Baeremeker proposed up to 170 kilometres of transit expansion proposals for the next 30 years, totaling at $30 billion. It would have been funded via an increase in property taxes via a “current-value assessment uplift”, and 1/3 funding each from the provincial and federal governments.
The plan was defeated by city council on July 12, 2012.
Proposals
The OneCity Transit Plan had a total of 21 proposals, separated into four categories: Subway expansion, train expansion, light rail transit, and bus rapid transit/streetcars.[1]
Subway expansion proposals included the following:
- Replacing the Scarborough RT with an extension of the Bloor-Danforth Line to McCowan and Sheppard.
- Extend the Yonge Line to Steeles.
- Extend the Sheppard Line west to Downsview Station.
- Build a "Don Mills Express" Line from Eglinton to Queen Station.
- Upgrade Bloor-Yonge Station.
Train expansion proposals included the following:
- Build a "Scarborough Express" Line from Steeles to Union Station, using or paralleling the GO Stouffville Line tracks.
- Build an "Etobicoke Express" Line from Pearson Airport to Union Station, using or paralleling the GO Kitchener Line tracks.
Light rail transit proposals included the following:
- Sheppard East LRT to Meadowvale, Toronto Zoo, and Malvern.
- Scarborough Malvern LRT from Kennedy Station to Sheppard and Morningside.
- Extend the proposed Eglinton Crosstown LRT west to Pearson Airport.
- Extend the proposed Finch West LRT west to Pearson Airport and east to Yonge (Finch Station).
- Jane LRT from Steeles to Bloor (Jane Station).
- Waterfront West LRT from Union Station to Long Branch.
- Don Mills LRT from Steeles to Eglinton.
Bus rapid transit and streetcar proposals included the following:
- Waterfront East streetcar line from Union Station to Parliament.
- Ellesmere BRT from Scarborough Centre Station to Kingston Road.
- Kingston Road BRT from Victoria Park Station to Kingston Road and Eglinton.
- Extend route 512 west from Keele to Jane.
- Wilson BRT from Wilson Station to Keele.
Reactions
The OneCity Transit Plan required 2/3 approval of council members (30 of 44) in order to proceed. However, several council members criticized that the whole plan was a disguise to replace the Scarborough LRT plan with a subway; something that was debated and approved many times over. Transit advocate Steve Munro, while supportive of the plan, criticized about several parts such as a lack of knowledge on operating costs, service quality, and maintenance costs of the current service as well as this proposed plan.[2]
Queen's Park was also unconvinced about OneCity. Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli criticized the LRT to subway conversion for the Scarborough RT and the Etobicoke Express proposal (which is a disguise to electrify the Air Rail Link, now called the Union Pearson Express), saying the provincial Liberals want to get digging on these proposals as-is. The province also rejected the "current-value assessment uplift" idea, saying the city already has other tools to provide transit funding.
Defeat of OneCity
With the elimination of the "current-value assessment uplift" as a funding tool, OneCity as presented to council was significantly scaled down. Only the Bloor-Danforth Line extension and the Waterfront East streetcar line made it to city council, and the Waterfront East streetcar line was approved for further study.
OneCity Today
While OneCity as a name is officially dead, various elements of the transit plan have been approved in recent years:
- Replacing the Scarborough RT with an extension of the Bloor-Danforth Line to McCowan and Sheppard. This was approved on October 8, 2013 after federal funding was announced and another contentious LRT vs. subway debate for Scarborough residents.[3]
- The "Don Mills Express" Line roughly mirrors the proposed Downtown Relief Line, however the exactly routing is still to be determined.
- The "Etobicoke Express" Line is still in the form of the Union Pearson Express.[4]
- Sheppard East LRT to Meadowvale.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ http://onecitytoronto.wordpress.com/the-onecity-plan/list-of-all-onecity-transit-plan-projects/
- ↑ http://stevemunro.ca/?p=6475
- ↑ http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/10/08/scarborough_subway_confirmed_by_toronto_council.html
- ↑ http://www.upexpress.com/en/
- ↑ http://www.bigmove.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/TBM_ProjectsInProgress-SheppardEastLRT.pdf