On the morning of the now-infamous $100 million press conference, a Metro Morning producer called me at 6:30 am and asked if I wanted to speculate on air about rumours that David Miller was either going to resign or jump in the race.

When Matt Galloway posed the question, I braved all and opined that the mayor was going to run, citing, as evidence, his recent screed in NOW Magazine.

Almost a week on, I am happy to report that I was largely correct.

No, he hasn’t registered, and no, he won’t be on the ballot. But Miller last week unambiguously inserted himself into the 2010 mayoral campaign (not to mention the work of the next council), thereby creating a strange and unseemly dynamic in a race that’s already looking fairly ugly. And he did so by choosing to position this piece of budget-related news in such a conspicuously political way.

Miller, of course, is looking to burnish up his record as the term winds down. And there’s little doubt that by trumpeting this in-year surplus as evidence of sound fiscal management, the mayor was taking yet another crack at pressuring Queen’s Park into a deal to cover half the TTC’s annual operating shortfall, which he’s taken to describing as “the provincial share.”

Yet by laying out part of a spending plan for the next term of council (including the false promise of a TTC fare freeze), Miller was directly challenging George Smitherman and Rocco Rossi, who’ve been outspoken in their critiques of the city’s financial problems and had no choice but to turn up at City Hall on Tuesday to respond with their own spin (”emotional turmoil,” “lamest of lame ducks,” etc.).

Smitherman hedged when I asked him if he felt he’s essentially running against the mayor. Rossi was more direct, noting that while Miller has the right to make budget announcements, he also appears to be trying “to re-define the narrative of the election campaign.”

Is that fair? Just consider some of Miller’s statements last week (from his press conference and then in an interview on Metro Morning on Friday):

“If people want to slash and privatize, it’s for their own ideological reasons. There’s no financial reason to do so. The debate should be about the future of the city we want, not the management of the city government, although that matters…”

And:

“If people want to spread the lie that are our taxes are high, when they’re the lowest in the GTA, that’s a lie, or that spending is out of control…then I think I should speak up. It was important for me to put that lie to rest so the candidates have to debate the future of the city, not this false financial issue…”

And:

“You can’t have a great city for free…” (Has anyone suggested we can?)

These are the words of someone whose head is still very much in the game, and it will be intriguing to see if Miller and his staff pursue this rhetorical strategy in the coming months as the race to succeed him heats up.

For Joe Pantalone, Miller’s move to campaign-esque footing is surely a curse. The deputy mayor’s problem so far is that he has done nothing whatsoever to distinguish himself from the outgoing regime. His default platform is Miller’s record.
Yet with the mayor outspokenly taking on Rossi and Smitherman, Pantalone now has nothing really to add, does he? Miller just sucks up all the oxygen.

Further, and more problematically, Pantalone increasingly comes across as a candidate who depends on a powerful patron or a wing man, which is a dreadful message to send to voters who are contemplating the choice of a leader.
Then there’s this business of “putting that lie to rest.” A line like that is nothing if not excellent fodder for a Rossi or Smitherman advertising campaign.

And it’s not even true, because Miller did not put to rest the question of the structural shortfall. The reality is that the 2011 budget still has a gaping hole in it, unless Queen’s Park hands him a permanent deal to pick up half the TTC’s operating deficit deal, which seems extremely doubtful at this point.

What’s more, he’s just informed the thousands of Torontonians who disagree with his policies, plus many undecided voters, that they’re dupes. Nice work.

So did we have a galvanizing moment last week? Absolutely.

In fact, I can remember another one, circa 2002, when Mel Lastman railed at then councilor Miller: “You say dumb and stupid things, and you’ll never be mayor.”

During the hard-fought 2003 race, Miller squeezed loads of political momentum - and no small amount of campaign donations — out of that putdown.

I have no doubt that whomever emerges as the right-of-centre front-runner will also figure out how to leverage some valuable bounce out of Miller’s uncharacteristically partisan rhetoric.

As this election-year backlash gains traction, the ironies abound.

photo by Matthew Blackett

As the West Don Lands neighbourhood continues to take shape, Waterfront Toronto is being forced to reconcile with the unique challenges of the area. One such challenge has been how the area will interact with the elevated overpass that carries Richmond, Adelaide and Eastern Ave through its heart. To the north of the overpass will be a Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) project and the River City condo development, while the heart of the new neighbourhood, including the athlete’s village for the Pan-Am games and the expansive new Don River Park will be built to the south. Thus, ensuring that the overpass does not become a barrier will be an important element of the neighbourhood’s success.

Mitigating the negative affects of the overpass will not be easy as there are significant psychological misgivings about such dark spaces with low ceilings. Underpass Park aims to address both the problems and importance of the site, and plans are very promising. Construction on the 2.5 acre site will begin in May and will cost $5.3 million with completion slated from Spring of next year.

Three areas will define Underpass Park, two covered by the structure above and one with a large amount of light, divided by St Lawrence Street and River Street running through the park. The open area, at the west of the site, between the Richmond and Adelaide ramps, will be a community garden and leisure space, taking advantage of its natural light. Plans here call for the creation of garden plots and public chess tables. The middle area between St Lawrence and River will be a community gathering space featuring a large public art installation, children’s play equipment, concessions and open space. The commission for public art in the space has been granted to Toronto’s Paul Raff. The final, eastern most area of the site, will extend up to the Don River flood burm and will be devoted to sports with two half courts for basketball and a ball hockey court. Interestingly, space will be left in the far east of this area to see what the community will do with it.

Map of  plans for the West Don Lands with Don River Park at the bottom right. The existing overpasses are represented in faint lines

Aside from providing things to do, in the long term creating an appropriate feeling in the space under the overpasses will be essential to making the space work. Planners have gone through great length to ensure this is the case. LED lighting will be installed along the bottom of the current structure that can be adjusted to find the appropriate levels of light. Designers noted that having too much light could make the space as undesirable as having too little.

Great attention has also been paid to details in the finish. Plantings have been carefully selected to be resistant to high salt levels and paving treatments will recycle pebbles from Ship’s ballast dumped in the area. Glass walls will help mitigate noise from the park without reducing visibility. In terms of safety, designers hope bringing people into the park will enhance the feeling of safety; emphasizing “visibility, sightlines, lights and people” as the prime safety features. Finally, they also note the park’s position under the overpass shield it from weather and perhaps make is more desirable throughout much of the year.

The site as it appears today

Perhaps one of the few downsides to the plan is that it seems to ensure the continued existence of these ramps. Designers referred to the overpasses as “Something that exits, something that’s going to stay there for a long time.” While it may be easy to be dismayed by this, it’s important to remember that these overpasses are not part of the Gardiner itself. Designers of the park note that if the Gardiner is torn down between Jarvis and the Don River, then the access to Richmond St will become even more important in diverting traffic flow.

Renderings of the west end of the site

As the first park built under an overpass in Toronto, this park is not only critical to a complete West Don Lands neighbourhood, but could set a new precedent for utilizing the space under highway structures in the GTA. Rather than ignoring what is now a highly undesirable space under an important thoroughfare, Waterfront Toronto has taken the challenge head on tackle the space and make it desirable cornerstone of the new community. It is just one of the continuing challenges as the West Don Lands continues to rise.

Overview of the West Don Lands neighbourhood, much of the neighbourhood is planned to be built out by summer 2014

Renderings courtesy of WATERFRONToronto

ARCHITECTURE / NEW DEVELOPMENT
• Pacific Mall proposal would double its size, add hotel [ National Post ]
• Hume: New waterfront park does double duty [ Toronto Star ]
• Condo Critic: Cityplace proving its critics wrong [ Toronto Star ]
• On Richmond Street, a revolution in 11 storeys [ National Post ]
• Finally, railway lands to see affordable housing [ Toronto Star ]

TRANSIT
• Politics stalling rail link: Miller [ Toronto Sun ]
• Transit wars: Vancouver good, Toronto bad? Not quite [ Globe & Mail ]
• Elevator slow to arrive at Lawrence W. station [ Toronto Star ]

CITY HALL
• Councillors ease budget bite [ Toronto Sun ]
• Groups, councillors scramble for slice of surprise budget surplus [ Globe & Mail ]
• Fatter surplus allows budget panel to ease up on austerity plans [ Globe & Mail ]
• Budget windfall may boost services [ Toronto Star ]
• Food carts still stymied by red tape [ Toronto Star ]

OTHER NEWS
• Green tide marks St. Patrick’s Day [ Toronto Sun ]
• Will Toronto’s changing demographic become a burden? [ Globe & Mail ]
• Sorry, politicos, our diversity’s one thing you can’t take credit for [ Globe & Mail ]
• Retail Therapy: How Queen West was worn [ National Post ]
• What should Toronto’s Pan Am mascot be? [ Toronto Star ]
• Will it be Junction Triangle after all? [ National Post ]
• Make space for cafés on grand avenue [ Toronto Star ]
• Pedestrian charged after walking into path of streetcar [ Toronto Star ]
• Parents vote down water vending machine at school [ Toronto Star ]
• Woonerf: It’s Dutch for smart city-building [ Toronto Star ]
• Pregnant, homeless and invisible in Toronto [ Toronto Star ]

Every Saturday, we highlight recent posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region.

• Spacing Atlantic’s Andrew Matheson explores what’s at stake in Saint John’s plan to redevelop the western edge of the city’s Rockwood Park: one of Saint John’s most important public amenities and among the largest urban parks in Canada.

• Widely considered a blight on the urban landscape and a “quintessential example of bad development”, Halifax’s Fenwick Tower is getting an overhaul. Templeton Properties, the new owners of the 33-storey, 40-year-old unfinished tower are hoping to turn the infamous high-rise into a mixed-use space more hospitable to the public. Spacing’s Emma Feltes and Rachel Caroline Derrah take us through the specifics of the new plan.

• Danish architects Louise Kielgast and Kristian S. Villadsen  recently gave a talk at Montreal’s Mcgill University. The designers (from the world-renowned Gehl Architects) spoke on “people-focused” urban design with particular attention to the challenges and opportunities of Northern cites. This week Spacing Montreal hosts the video of the talk which should prove interesting to all Spacing readers.

• Émile Thomas offers some small but transformative suggestions on how to improve and re-imagine Montreal’s St-Viateur street.

• Spacing Ottawa looks at the history and the potential future of the city’s Parkdale Avenue:“a fume-filled arterial road functioning as an on-ramp to the busiest stretch of expressway in Eastern Ontario”. Recent community consultations have resulted in comprehensive planning recommendations that, if adopted, would significantly alter the Parkdale Avenue of today.

• In the second post in Spacing Ottawa’s ongoing “CityVotes2010″ series, Ian Capstick looks at why Ottawa has become a “change-adverse” city and asks how everyday Ottawa residents can become a “catalyst for change”

• Growing customer dissatisfaction with the with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and the looming municipal election have led to earnest conversations on how the fledgling city agency can be overhauled. One idea on the table is to integrate the TTC into the larger regional transit organization Metrolinx. Spacing Toronto hosts a debate between contributors and transit experts, John Lorinc and Steve Munro, on the pros and cons of uploading the TTC.

• Toronto is one step closer to its first civic museum with the launch of a new website “The Toronto Museum Project”. Marcus Browmen takes us through what the online museum has to offer and why its helping to create a collective “civic consciousness”.

Photo from solylunafamilia

Street Scene will appear each week showcasing the illustrations of local artist Jerry Waese.

Photos like this one seem like they were taken a lifetime ago. Hilarious bathing costumes aside, the idea of swimming in the Don River is about as foreign an experience as I can think of. I know the Don as a sidekick to the DVP and as a treasure trove of beer cans and shopping carts. Though I grew up close to it, I have never dipped a toe into it or taken a drink straight from the river.

Can you blame me? From kindergarten on up, we were taught that the Don was dirty. And my teachers weren’t wrong. The Don River does not meet Provincial water quality objectives and has the dubious distinction of making the International Joint Commission’s list of 43 “areas of concern” in the Great Lakes Basin. It is one of the city’s most degraded ecosystems.

As it turns out, you can blame me. Along with nearly half of Toronto’s residents who make up the Don River sewershed, I’ve had a hand in the Don’s current condition. The sewers which combine and carry away stormwater and sanitary waste bound for the Ashbridges Bay treatment plant routinely overflow, loading up the Don with bacteria and nutrient pollution.

As it stands, our wastewater infrastructure progressively degrades this ecosystem and the water we drink. We’ve created a system which undermines itself and the value that we place on clean drinking water and a healthy environment.

With the release of the City’s Wet Weather Flow Master Plan in 2003 and the subsequent Don River and Central Waterfront Project, the City of Toronto is trying to stem the tide, initiating the process of restoring e.colic to bucolic.

The City proposes to address the need for additional sewer capacity to meet forecasted demands as the city grows while better managing the “wet weather” flows which wreak havoc on the Don. This requires changes at the source (lessening the load by disconnecting downspouts, planting trees, and promoting green roofs), during conveyance (allowing percolation of wastewater into soil for natural filtration where appropriate, separating sanitary from storm sewers, upgrading large trunk sewers) and at the end of the pipe (improving the quality of the water emerging from the Don’s 51 combined sewer outflows).

This project is subject to a Municipal Class EA.

This class of projects includes municipal “maintenance and operational activities, reconstruction and modification of existing roads and traffic facilities, the construction of new roads, reconstruction and modification of existing sewage, stormwater management and water facilities, the construction of new sewage and water facilities and the construction of stormwater management and related erosion, flood and water quality control facilities.” It will also be subject to a Federal Environmental Assessment on account of the potential implications of the project for navigable waters, fisheries and federal project funding.

Like other EAs, the municipal process mandates public consultation, the consideration of alternatives, identification of the potential environmental impacts of the project and the recognition of the advantages and disadvantages of the candidate solutions. Following public consultation and planning stages in 2008-2009, the City will release a preferred design document and environmental study report for public viewing this year.

City literature suggests that this project will “make the largest contribution to water quality improvement and habitat creation in the Don River in our lifetime.” This is a big step and one that future generations will thank us for (particularly if it allows them the chance to swim beneath the Prince Edward Viaduct).

The Don River project is exactly the kind of development decisions that the EA should be promoting: finding opportunities within decaying infrastructure to lessen the burden on our natural systems and improve quality of life. It does this by starting from a place of genuine need, a problem rather than a new project. The result is net ecological benefits rather than mere mitigation of new environmental ills: a standard that other assessments should be held to.

Photo courtesy of Toronto Archives

1980s-2010

Before and After will appear each Friday showcasing mixed Then and Nows by local artist and Toronto history enthusiast Alden Cudanin.

Toronto Archives, Series 1465, s1465_fl0019_id0041

CITY HALL
• Groups, councillors scramble for slice of surprise budget surplus [ Globe & Mail ]
• David Miller’s $100M defence [ Toronto Star ]
• Miller deserves praise. Seriously [ National Post ]
• Retirement sparks fight for key ward [ National Post ]
• Coun. Walker won’t seek re-election [ Toronto Sun ]

OTHER NEWS
• Annex resident devastated giant oak tree cut down [ Toronto Star ]
• Banned from city property? You can soon appeal [ Toronto Star ]
• Forget winter activities this March Break [ Toronto Star ]
• Oakville temporarily blocks new power plant [ Toronto Star ]
• OMB decision a victory for opponents of tower [ Globe & Mail ]
• Bottle Water Free Day [ Toronto Sun ]
• Do you know Toronto’s washrooms? [ Toronto Sun ]

Toronto has edged a little closer to the goal of creating a civic museum with the recent launch of the Toronto Museum Project online.The fantastic new website includes detailed images of 150 objects in the municipal collection. The project is innovative in the way it lets people interact with the collection online. A diverse group of 100 Torontonians were invited to view the objects and share personal stories, inspired as a result. These stories are all included in the website and highlight the importance of showcasing history to our collective civic conscience. Mayor Miller called it “An inventive new way for Torontonians to engage objects, stories and ideas, and to reflect on what they mean for the city’s past, present and future.”

The online project also includes 100 exciting ideas for exhibits at a future Toronto Museum. A look through the ideas is an interesting read. One exhibit proposal is about the ancient highways used by natives in the region and would include authentic hollowed out canoes, another, tentatively named ‘Home Brew’ focuses on the history of alcohol production in city. A more populist exhibit proposal dedicates itself to the city’s armchair athletes and includes items ranging from old team photos and jerseys to World Series memorabilia.

Input seems to be the focus of the whole project and each exhibit provides opportunity for feedback. The project has given prominent space for readers to create their own exhibit ideas, and justify why such ideas would important in a city museum.

According to the Mayor, the city currently has over 150,000 objects in its historical collection. This of course brings up the long-standing issue of where the city can find an appropriate place to display them. While many viewed the Canada Malting Company Silos on the waterfront as a front-runner, that site has come into question because of structural issues with the silos and the possibility of Old City Hall opening up. Having outgrown their current premises, Court Services plans to move to a new building on University Ave leaving Old City Hall open for new uses.

The project was a collaboration between the Ecentricarts, York University’s Augmented Reality Lab, Brookview Middle School and the Toronto Star. Not only does the project build productively towards better displaying the city’s historical collection, it also creates momentum for a museum by clearly demonstrating some of the amazing opportunities available.

As the online project shows Toronto has the physical collection and collective imagination to put together what could be an incredible civic museum; lets hope the momentum doesn’t stop here.

Photo credit: Toronto Archives [see the full size image]

Street Scene will appear each week showcasing the illustrations of local artist Jerry Waese.

PARKS & SQUARES
• Making parks more friendly [ Toronto Star ]
• Area below DVP ramps to become new park [ National Post ]
• Hume: A brilliant plan for a dreary space [ Toronto Star ]
• Yonge-and-Eg makeover draws fire [ Globe & Mail ]

BIKE LANES
• Cars, wedges and the Brady Bunch [ Eye Weekly ]
• Cars clog new Simcoe St. bike lane [ Toronto Star ]
• When is a bike lane not a bike lane? [ Toronto Star ]

OTHER NEWS
• Police budget cut by $4M [ Toronto Star ]
• Water works don’t work [ Toronto Star ]
• OMB decision a victory for opponents of tower [ Globe & Mail ]
• Where’s Joe? [ Now Magazine ]
• Toronto’s unsung co-ops [ Eye Weekly ]
• East vs West: The politics [ Now Magazine ]
• East vs West: The rivers [ Now Magazine ]
• East vs West: The buildings [ Now Magazine ]
• People’s Glossary of BS [ Now Magazine ]

A photo I took when we went through this ritual in mid-2008.

Context!

June 13, 2008.  A Friday.  I was covering City Hall for Eye Weekly at the time.

At 2:24 in the afternoon, the City put out a press release.  Seventeen minutes later, my editor forwarded it to me, asking if I had any idea what it was about:

Media Advisory: Mayor David Miller to make important announcement

Media are advised that Mayor David Miller will make an important announcement today.

Date: TODAY - Friday, June 13
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Mayor’s Protocol Lounge, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.

Reasoning that it was either really good/important news (something so urgent they were announcing it late on a Friday afternoon) or really bad/embarrassing news (something so unfortunate they were announcing it late on a Friday afternoon), I decided that it was worth my time to schlep down to City Hall.  So did the rest of the media, who — along with a whole whack of curious councillors and political staffers — enthusiastically stuffed into Miller’s office much as they did today, to hear what course-altering proclamation the mayor had in store.

And then he spoke, announcing that Toronto Hydro had just sold off Onezone to Cogeco, and that the City would be putting its $75 million take from the sale toward addressing the backlog in repairs to public housing.  The collective, unspoken response of the assembled press: “Oh. That’s… good… news…”

Very few people who were reporting on City Hall back then are still doing so now.  Which is not to blame anyone’s relative inexperience for the hype of last night and this morning; the mayor and his squad knew exactly what they were doing, and pretty much everyone, regardless of their experience at the Hall, bought into it.

But I do attribute the reaction, at least partly, to limited memories. Instead of “Ah, damn, another one of these,” the sentiment today could better be described as “What. The. F—.”

Aside from the much-noted suggestion that “Live trucks should arrive well in advance to run cables,” the advisory for this morning’s press conference was virtually identical to the one put out on June 13, 2008.  Of course, it was also pretty similar to the release put out last September 25, but it wasn’t necessarily closer to that one than the other.

The City website archives all official news releases since amalgamation.  The teasing phrase “important announcement” had only been used in a title on four occasions prior to today: “Three levels of government to make an important announcement for the TTC’s 50th anniversary of the subway” (3/29/04) — $1 billion of transit funding; “Media Advisory: Mayor David Miller to make important announcement” (6/13/08) — the Onezone sale; “Media Advisory: Mayor David Miller and City Manager Shirley Hoy to make important announcement” (7/28/08) — Hoy’s departure and the mayor’s pick of Joe Pennachetti to replace her; and “Media Advisory - Mayor Miller is to make an important announcement” (9/25/09) — that he wouldn’t run again. While certainly all substantial and significant declarations, the media was really only batting one for four in terms of sexiness.  And despite anything that might be said by Kevin Sack — who is essentially the City’s publicist — both the word “important” and the phrase “important announcement” tend to be used rather liberally in the City’s press materials.

Though newer journos might be forgiven for thinking otherwise, not every  advisory heralds something apocalyptic.

The vast majority of Council business centres on budget numbers swirling around.  Sometimes those numbers are bigger than others, and sometimes city policy is of more consequence than city politics.

Anyone who doesn’t own a car, and the insurance that goes with it, is going to have fewer resources to deal with injuries if they are hit by a car, as a result of changes to auto insurance just introduced by the Province of Ontario.

In an effort to reduce auto insurance costs, the Province has cut in half the amount of medical and rehabilitation benefits coverage that drivers are required to purchase. Drivers will be able to purchase more if they want to, although in all likelihood few will do so. This move is presented as a calculated risk for the drivers themselves — they are gambling that they will not need as much medical assistance if they get in an accident.

The problem is, if a driver hits someone on foot or bicycle who does not own a car, and therefore does not have automobile collision insurance, it is the driver’s insurance that pays for the medical and rehabilitation needs of the victim. And now, most drivers will have half as much coverage as they used to — meaning that non-drivers who are hit by a car now have recourse to only half as much insurance money to cover medical and rehab needs as they used to. While it may still be enough to cope with injuries in many cases, for serious injuries that may result in long-term physical problems the new amount could well be inadequate to cover the the expenses the victim needs to pay to recover full health.

Lawyer Patrick Brown explained the consequences of this change in a blog post when these proposals were first introduced.   Brown noted:

Perhaps the greatest injustice of this new law falls upon children.  Parents of a child can increase their benefits to ensure added protection is given to their child if the child is struck down by a car while walking or riding his/her bike.  However, parents of a child who do not own a car and do not have car insurance, will not be able to give their child this added protection.

Non-drivers can’t choose how much coverage they get. Yet although the Province was warned of the consequences to non-drivers, it did not make any adjustments to the final proposals to take them into account.

photo by Doug McGregor

TTC
• TTC staffers get conflict policy [ Globe & Mail ]
• Photo contract ‘taints’ Transit City [ Toronto Sun ]
• Councillor urges Transit City freeze [ National Post ]

YONGE/EGLINGTON SQUARE
• Hume: Square plan won’t save dead zone [ Toronto Star ]
• Plan to transform Yonge/Eglinton square wins council approval [ National Post ]

OTHER NEWS
• Visible minority’ will mean ‘white’ by 2031 [ Toronto Star ]
• T.O. to become even more multicultural: StatsCan [ Toronto Sun ]
• The perfect mayor a marriage of McCallion and Miller [ Toronto Star ]
• Province refuses to offer more protection for Dunlap Observatory [ Toronto Star ]
• City parks staff rebuked for banning abusive man [ Toronto Star ]
• Developers balk at affordable-unit idea [ Toronto Star ]
• Fuzzy boundaries no more [ Globe & Mail ]
• Billboard companies bombard city with requests to bend sign rules [ Globe & Mail ]
• Community council rejects King St. tower [ National Post ]
• Toronto: not as cheap as advertised [ National Post ]
• LED signs for Gardiner rejected [ National Post ]
• Leslieville’s joker strikes again [ National Post ]

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
• Planning a bike trip using Google Maps is about to get much easier as the company is set to launch a new bike trip planner service in 150 US cities. According to the Chicago Tribune, the new service will provide cyclists with step-by-step biking directions that “factor in the length of the trip, changes in elevation and even fatigue”.

• Is Japan’s pictorial green “Running Man” sign more intuitive then North America’s lettered red “Exit” sign? In an ongoing series on signage, Slate Magazine weighs in on the international debate over the Exit Sign.

• The Guardian UK hosts a slide show of inventive ways artists and designers have re-imagined the bicycle.

• The Infrastructist Blog details the 10 most expensive transit project of the last decade, including San Juan’s 10.7-mile-$2.63 billion rapid transit Tren Urbano line.

• A photo essay on Foreign Policy looks at China’s unlikely “golf boom” and the social and environmental stresses the course construction frenzy is placing on the landscape.

picture of Emergency exit sign at the Frankfurt Airport by Markus Tacker

The Toronto Cyclists Union is being honoured in Washington, DC today, they have been awarded the 2010  “innovation of the year” award from the US-based Alliance for Cycling and Walking. The award is in honour of their partnership with Culturelink Settlement Services to promote cycling amongst newcomers to the city.

The program, known as the Partnership for Integration and Sustainable Transportation, includes posters, a cycling handbook and workshops. All material has been made available in sixteen of Toronto’s most commonly spoken languages.

The award recognizes that the program not only brings better transportation options to the city’s newcomers but also promotes an inclusive cyclist movement. Culturelink Executive Director Ibrahim Absiye explains, “In Toronto, 52% of people 15 and older are newcomers to Canada, and green initiatives must speak directly to them to be effective.”

The Bike Union has made a priority of working with other groups in the city to spread the promotion of cycling and bring a more diverse group on board. Kristen Steele, of the Alliance for Biking and Walking cites this a primary reason for the recognition. “We need an inclusive movement if we’re going to be successful in making our communities more friendly to bicyclists and pedestrians. The partnership between the Toronto Cyclists Union and CultureLink is a great example of how to bring people together.”

Photo by Shaun Merritt

At a packed Board of Trade speech last week, Rocco Rossi vowed that as mayor, he would “put everything on the table” in negotiations with the province over the future of the TTC (and, by implication, its murky relationship to Metrolinx).
Everything?

Rossi seems to be implying that the TTC’s very status as a city agency may be in play if he wins. Rival George Smitherman doesn’t appear to disagree. In an interview with The Star, Smitherman (who’s found religion on the topic of contracting out) mused about outsourcing bus routes to private operators, as is done in London. He’s been vague about the rest of his TTC plans (the precondition to all changes, he said in an email, is the city getting its “house in order”), although he praised Metrolinx and called for more seamless transit within the region in a speech to the Board of Trade last December.

Time to call these guys out. If elected, are they planning to have council ask the province to upload all, or part, of the TTC to Metrolinx? And if so, what are the arguments? And what would drive the province to agree?

Spacing contributors John Lorinc and Steve Munro bring the debate out of the rhetorical shadows.

The Case For Uploading

In the past sixty years, the TTC has served Toronto well, concentrating growth within the former Metro boundaries and driving intensification closer to the core. In the 905, by contrast, municipalities and the province failed to invest comparably in transit, leading to today’s gridlock, productivity losses, and sprawl.

The region’s transportation crisis, however, cuts across municipal borders.

When 905ers end up on the TTC, Toronto taxpayers subsidize their fares. And when 416ers get stuck in traffic in York Region on their way to work, 905 taxpayers pick up the tab for road repairs. The reverse commute on the Don Valley Parkway and the peak period crush on the northern end of the Yonge subway line are symptoms of the dearth of a meaningful regional transportation strategy.

Following the lead of other large metropolitan areas like London, Madrid and Vancouver, Queen’s Park established Metrolinx in 2006 to address the problem, and it subsequently assigned the new agency to run GO Transit.

Then, in 2008, Metrolinx approved “The Big Move,” a long-term $50 billion vision to reduce congestion and increase transit use across the GTA/Hamilton with subways extensions, bus rapid transit/light rail corridors, etc. While Metrolinx is now building two of the new Transit City lines and other “quick start” projects with provincial cash, the Big Move strategy still lacks a sustainable long-term financing plan, i.e., road tolls, congestion charges, parking levies, and other user fees.

Metrolinx will only fulfill its mandate if the agency can exercise significant planning and operational control over the TTC, GO and other 905 transit agencies.

There’s no reason why individual agencies like the TTC shouldn’t retain their corporate identities, local marketing, and customer relations efforts, as is the case with Greater Vancouver’s Translink. But the improvements envisioned in The Big Move can’t happen with the current patchwork system that militates against inter-municipal coordination, especially when it comes to planning large capital projects.

Evidence? Just look to the long-running stalemate over the smart card. Unlike most major transit systems, the TTC has resisted the introduction of new fare media while Queen’s Park has pushed for it as one of the conditions for provincial funding (Presto will debut in the 905 later this year, but will be only available for limited use in Toronto for the time being.)

Perhaps more importantly, if the Liberals want to persuade GTA residents that The Big Move must be financed at least partly with new user fees such as road tolls, they have to assure voters they’ll get results. And that means creating a single authority with the clout to make the system work in a comprehensive way.

Looking ahead 25 years or more, Queen’s Park also wants to realize a return (not just financial, but also social and environmental) on those multi-billion-dollar transit investments by making the most of service integration - smart cards, system information, ease of movement between lines, coordinated schedules, and so on.

Ultimately, though, this is about imagining life in the GTA in 60 or 80 or even a hundred years, a time when the concentrating effect of the greenbelt (and global warming) should be very evident on development patterns across the region, not just in the core.

By then, I’d hope the GTA is a far less congested place than it is now, with yet another generation of integrated transit service. We could, in theory, follow Madrid’s lead, with a regional agency driving a new generation of subway expansion to other parts of the 905, besides Vaughan city centre.

Indeed, the decision to extend the Spadina line up to Vaughan arguably marked the moment when the TTC ceased to be a creature of the 416. The embattled agency did what it had to do inside the old Metro borders.

Now it’s time to move on.

The Case Against Uploading

What should transit do for our city? What expectations does the TTC fail to meet? What goals do we have that Metrolinx might ignore?

Those who would lead Toronto prefer to hand our single largest municipal agency to provincial control and abdicate any responsibility for the future of our transit system. This will save Toronto the cost of subsidizing the TTC, but what does the city lose in the process?

Toronto has much better transit service than the 905 municipalities because of population density and a history of good transit policy decisions.

Toronto’s Official Plan presumes aggressive improvements to transit service in support of added density on major streets. Will Metrolinx share this view or starve Toronto of better transit?

Toronto’s fare policy combines a uniform fare for short and long distance riders to encourage transit commutes, and extensive pass use to make transit an “all you can eat” option for the best customers. Metrolinx/GO is a fare-by-distance system. Do people from Scarborough or Rexdale want to pay more than twice their current fare to commute to the core area? Who will subsidize their rides if Metrolinx controls the TTC?

Toronto Councillors quickly complain when TTC service in their wards falls short of constituents’ desires. Who will they turn to with Metrolinx running the system? How much effect can they have on a secretive board that meets publicly every few months, and then only to rubber stamp a handful of staff reports?

Metrolinx’ neither knows nor cares about local transit services. The Big Move is all about regional trips. It ignores the huge gap between transit service in the 905 and the local demand GO’s expanding network will create on 905 bus networks. The Big Move assumes that local systems will pay for whatever is needed. What happens if GO is the local system?

The GO model - parking lots in the suburbs and a big TTC subway conveniently sitting at the heart of the network downtown - does not work for reverse commuting or for trips that neither begin nor end on the GO network.

GO takes the easy projects - converting existing rail corridors for commuter use and running a network of express buses mostly on existing roads. Where is the commitment to creating new corridors? Where is the commitment to developing transit markets rather than letting pent-up demand fall into GO’s lap?

Funding for The Big Move is uncertain. Metrolinx remains on a tight year-to-year budget and there is no sign of a dedicated revenue stream from any source. Policy is announced by the Premier, not from a detailed public discussion of revenue sources or how best to spend them.

Would Toronto and the 905 municipalities be required to contribute to Metrolinx budgets as they now do to GO? How would Toronto be compensated for the billions in municipal investment and associated debt it has paid in the “Toronto share” for TTC assets?

Would municipalities have the option to contract with Metrolinx for better than “standard” service on routes within their borders, or would Toronto be forced to accept whatever works for Newmarket, Burlington and Durham?

Unified service requires only the will to operate and fund the network. Each transit system budgets independently today and is never sure of future subsidies. Anything that reduces farebox income or drives up service requirements without compensating revenue is a major issue for every GTA transit systems. While the TTC continues to expand, 905 systems retrench.

How can Metrolinx “take over” the TTC, an organization with three times the employees and over eight times the ridership of GO Transit? What is the real aim here? Does Metrolinx plan to outsource the entire TTC, or have new companies assume existing operations with major changes to the labour contracts?

If TTC management is inept, as candidates allege, where is the cadre of transit experts poised to take over their jobs? Metrolinx, GO and the TTC use the same consultants to plan and design their networks. Will they magically become models of quality and efficiency just because they report to a provincial agency?

If the issue is union wage rates, benefits and working conditions, why have arbitrations consistently gone in the union’s favour? Why didn’t Queen’s Park impose settlements when they had the chance?

Why do we assume that a new set of political cronies, friends of Queen’s Park, will do any better than the crew at City Hall?

Metrolinx and the Liberals must be honest with Toronto’s voters. Nobody knows what “uploading” means beyond making the TTC someone else’s problem. Would-be Mayors can slip through the campaign without any detailed transit policy.

We must decide what we want from our transit system. Only then we can decide how to achieve those goals, including how to pay for them. “Uploading” isn’t a solution. It is a smokescreen to avoid the real debate.

photo by Wylie Poon

Street Scene will appear each week showcasing the illustrations of local artist Jerry Waese.

BILLBOARDS
• Billboard companies bombard city with requests to bend sign rules [ Globe & Mail ]
• Councillors divided on digital billboard requests [ National Post ]

G20
• G8, G20 protesters set to make their points peacefully [ Toronto Star ]
• NGOs take diplomatic approach to G20 protest [ Globe & Mail ]

CYCLING
• T.O. cyclists ride away U.S. award [ Toronto Sun ]
• Millions sought for Ontario cycling [ Toronto Star ]

OTHER NEWS
• Igor Kenk out of jail after less than 2 years [ National Post ]
• Square’s days are running out [ National Post ]
• Torontonians bask in lamb of a day [ Toronto Star ]
• Scarborough highrise a death trap for birds [ Toronto Star ]
• Police board rejects budget cut [ Toronto Star ]
• 2:30-3:30 a.m.: Supermarkets can use fridges as heat source [ Toronto Star ]
• James: $720 fine for trash mistake just stinks [ Toronto Star ]
• Idea floated to ensure more affordable housing [ Toronto Star ]
• H² No! Water sale in schools draws fire [ Toronto Star ]
• Residents need tips to deal with coyotes: Councillor [ Toronto Sun ]
• A neighbourhood is reborn [ Toronto Sun ]
• Junction residents play name game [ Toronto Sun ]
• New leader enters hairy new world at Toronto Zoo [ Globe & Mail ]

ARCHITECTURE
• Preservationists fail to save historic hangars [ Globe & Mail ]
• Condo Critic: Yorkville rich with everything but substance [ Toronto Star ]
• Hume: Toronto’s ‘little’ details a big deal for residents [ Toronto Star ]

CITY HALL
• Jack Layton’s son makes bid for city hall [ Toronto Star ]
• Jack Layton’s son to run for city council in Trinity-Spadina [ Globe & Mail ]
• Miller’s criticism of budget gets short shrift [ Globe & Mail ]
• Adam Giambrone has a jittery date with destiny [ Globe & Mail ]
• Miller’s criticism of budget gets short shrift [ Globe & Mail ]
• Council’s billboard decisions criticized [ Toronto Star ]
• Don’t Tune Dissent Out [ National Post ]
• Freebies for councillors may become taxable benefits [ Globe & Mail ]
• Posted Toronto Political Panel: Can City Hall be more civilized [ National Post ]
• Miller and his Minnow launch the fifth annual Keep Toronto Reading festival [ Toronto Star ]

TTC
• Jewish group questions TTC advisory panel choice [ National Post ]
• TTC paid executive’s friend $50,000 [ Toronto Star ]
• TTC takes notes on Philly system’s revived reputation [ Toronto Star ]

URBAN GREEN
• 1:30-2:30 a.m.: Pearson dims down once air traffic slows for the day [ Toronto Star ]
• 12:30-1:30 a.m.: Curb the curling and other club lights [ Toronto Star ]
• For dog walkers, the walk in the park is hard work [ Toronto Star ]

OTHER NEWS
• Bike thief Igor Kenk released from jail [ Toronto Star ]
• Bryant’s cyclist death case put over [ Toronto Star ]
• Pevere: Toronto’s literary landscape defies shaping [ Toronto Star ]
• Cut 140 school aide jobs, trustees urged [ National Post ]
• City warmed by ‘false spring’ [ Toronto Star ]
• Pan Am games needs volunteers to succeed, summit told [ Toronto Star
• New leader enters hairy new world at Toronto Zoo [ Globe & Mail ]
• Warm Toronto ‘being seduced by Mother Nature’ [ Globe & Mail ]
• Busy look of mailboxes to turn off graffiti artists [ Toronto Star ]
• Homeless shelters should be safe sanctuary, activists [ Toronto Star ]
• Secret parking ticket rules probed [ Toronto Star ]
• Passengers begin using Porter’s new $50 million island airport terminal [ Toronto Star ]