EXAMPLES FROM ELSEWHERE: TRANSIT THAT MAKES LIFE IN THE CITY EASIER
Ontario’s transit authority made a decision in September that partially answers questions posed in the Vital Signs 2012 Report about funding for a much-needed regional transit network.
Metrolinx announced it would choose a private partner over the Toronto Transit Commission to build and operate the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown LRT, which is slated for completion in 2020.
But the decision only covers part of the province’s current $8.4-billion commitment to an overall public transit infrastructure for Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area, estimated to cost about $50 billion.
“I think it’s time for a radical rethink about how transit works and how it is funded,” says Howard Tam, an urban planning consultant at ThinkFresh Group who has studied public trans- portation systems in Asia. “We often miss out on connected opportunities, from financing the system down to customer service.”
While agreeing with the Vital Signs 2012 approach for creating “complete streets,” where pedestrians, cyclists, cars and public transit are accommodated in new rights of way, Tam says Toronto’s street grid isn’t particularly suited to all types of transportation.
Instead, he envisions transit infrastructure that is integrated into commuters’ lives; a person could ride the GO Train home, pick up a book at a library branch at Union Station, and then get off at their stop and pick up groceries and dry cleaning on the walk to their apartment.
If the TTC were allowed to build such facilities, it could maximize revenues by selling or leasing commercial and residential spaces near its stations. Affordable housing could be mandated into planning.
“This is thinking in the paradigm of connected opportunities,” explains Tam.
“And this isn’t dreaming in Technicolor; places like Hong Kong and Singapore do this,” he adds.
“In Hong Kong, the subway system actually turns a profit and trades as a company on the stock exchange.”