In a lunchtime speech to the Empire Club at the Royal York today, mayoral hopeful Rocco Rossi laid out some of the key planks of his platform — promises that will likely set the tone and the dynamic of the race to come.
He vowed to cancel all future bike lanes on major arterial roads, including Jarvis Street, and complete the balance of the city’s cycling plan on residential or secondary streets. He also promised to review existing bike lanes on arterials.
As for Transit City, Rossi condemned the TTC and the city for allowing the St. Clair right-of-way to go over budget. “We can’t have another St. Clair fiasco.” He told reporters after the speech that if he’s elected, he will put all of the Transit City projects (except the Sheppard line, which is now under construction) on hold, pending a review of their projected capital and operating budget projects. Asked if he was calling for a moratorium, he initially replied, “On anything we can stop right now, yes.” Later, Rossi’s communications director Pat Best told reporters that he wants to put the projects “on hold.”
As regards the TTC, he pledged to replace the councillors on the commission with a private sector board of directors, as now exists at Metrolinx (which conducts its meetings behind closed doors).
Finally, Rossi said he intends to pursue outsourcing and managed competition for city services, starting with garbage collection. He said public sector unions will be invited to bid for those contracts. “Getting our fiscal house in order is not a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have.”
The crowd loudly applauded Rossi’s pledges on outsourcing, Transit City and the bike lanes.
photo by Himy Syed
58 comments
Very, very disappointing. As the candidates began to emerge, I wondered how Rossi and Smitherman would begin to seperate themselves from each other. Rossi seems to be driving hard to the right.
And to all the people who want to scrap Transit City so they can re-allocate the money on subway expansion…this is what you’re going to get. A mayor vowing to get rid of Transit City with none of the money staying within the TTC.
Great! It’s nice to see a councillor with logical, sound ideas.
Finally, we can extend Black Creek drive to become a freeway to the downtown core – might as well strip out the University subway line too while we’re at it and expand Allen road to downtown.
Why not add 6 more lanes on to the Gardiner and the DVP?
Let’s tax cyclists and introduce mandatory insurance too. Those cyclists are nothing but a nuisance when they zip by while I’m sitting in gridlock.
I could only imagine how great Toronto would be under a Rossi leadership. This man is a Saviour!
Oops, didn’t mean to say councillor.. meant to say contender 😉
I was chided for placing Rossi to the right in the political spectrum.
https://spacing.ca/toronto/2010/01/07/political-spectrum-of-toronto-mayors-race/
Didn’t this guy used to be the CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and he wants to side track bicycle lanes?
Is exercise only for those who can afford to take a week off work and kayak to Ottawa?
This guys sounds like a total loser.
Rossi just confirmed why I would not vote for him.
It would be funny if it wasn’t so scary. Seems like a platform precisely targeted to the frothing-at-the-mouth anti-Miller rageaholics.
Those that think Lex Luther will actually get votes is beyond me! Look at the picture used in this article…he even looks like a madman.
Matt, now I’m thinking you put Rossi’s blue circle a bit too far to the left 😉
James: “And to all the people who want to scrap Transit City so they can re-allocate the money on subway expansion …”
It doesn’t follow that Toronto needs to waste a pile of money on Transit City to be assured of subway expansion later. I’m not likely to vote for Rossi, but I’m glad at least one candidate is nominating TC for the chopping block — that’s a debate that is badly needed.
Chris –How does Lex Luthor get votes, you ask? I really don’t know, but God knows it happens. Google “Larry O’Brien, Ottawa Mayor”. Right wing voters seem to love the look.
First of all, let me be clear that I do not support Rossi. That said, he is clearly making hay out of some timely issues the mismanagement of which the current City Council is greatly responsible for and which are on the mind of a lot of people, whether right wing, left wing or centrist. First up, the St. Clair ROW fiasco, about which the TTC’s own just released shows that fiasco is not too strong a word. The City and the TTC say that they’ve learned a lot from this project — but the apparent absence of any humility from the politicos (including Miller, TTC Giambrone, Councillor Mihvec) who supported it regarding how badly this project was botched suggests that little has probably been learned and probably less will be remembered as the various parts of Transit City roll out. Learning requires humility and that there doesn’t seem to be much of that among those who pushed the St.Clair ROW throw. Even for those not opposed to the StClair ROW per se (myself included), there are many who thought that there were many other and better ways to spend $100m so as to improve transit in Toronto. In light of the TTC’s report, that Rossi wants to put the brakes on Transit City pending a review will not necessarily be seen as a right wing move by all… even if all the commentators above want to label it so. Those who think the experience on St.Clair will not have an impact on how citizens’ regard future TransitCity projects are being somewhat naive.
Rossi on bike lanes: nasty reactionary.
Rossi on Transit City: reasonable skeptic.
I’m torn. Hopefully Smitherman will be less regressive on the first issue.
John Lorinc – I implore you to stop treating Rocco Rossi as anything other than a fringe candidate until there is any evidence to the contrary. This guy’s sole credential is as a party bagman, with no policy experience, and – quite frankly – zero basis to believe that he is a viable candidate with any chance of a respectable finish (never mind winning).
It is embarrassing to see the level of media attention this guy is getting, given his dearth of experience or demonstrated talent. This is, for all intents and purposes, the Stephen Ledrew clownshow all over again (and in fairness to Stephen Ledrew, he at least had a lot higher profile than Rossi – and even with that he won, what, 1%?).
You caught flack recently from Karen Stintz for omitting mention of Sarah Thompson (as a female candidate). While it may be understandable that she is omitted from the discussion owing to the lack of name recognition and/or experience, but by that same standard Rocco Rossi deserves no better.
Great! So Rossi wants Toronto to become another crap-hole over-run with cars. That’s not vision, it’s pandering.
I just hope that those who drive don’t get lured into thinking that driving faster through the core will make their city better. More like Mississauga.
The world’s great cities are all putting in bike lanes. It’s makes sense. Rossi doesn’t. Loser.
Rossi’s actually made me interested in him as a candidate. Most municipal projects waste time, money and resources. Transit City isn’t flawless, and I commend Rossi for pointing that out, especially considering the obvious backlash he’d face. Allowing the private sector to participate in the transit planning process could result in a more efficient, less expensive system.
My goodness! The only thing this makes me what to ask is where can you find out about volunteering for Smitherman’s campaign?
Between the Province and (to a much lesser extent) the Federal government almost $16 billion has been committed to Transit City. Almost all of the studies are complete, construction will start on all lines within the next year and they will be finished within about 5 years or so. Anyone thinking we will find the extra money to build subways instead of LRTs are fooling themselves.
In context – the St. Clair Streetcar project and the Sheppard Subway are about the same length. The subway cost over $1 billion – the streetcar line just over $!00 million. So, let’s assume conservatively that subways are not 10 times the price of LRTs, but half that at 5 times the price because such a long series of lines would be built along Eglinton and Finch. Out of the $16 billion we need to subtract the almost $4 billion for taking the subway from Downsview Station to Highway 7. Multiply the remaining $11 billion by 5 and that means at least we would need $55 billion to replace the LRT lines with subways. Although both the federal and provincial governments have been the most free spending since the 1960’s in the past year, it seems impossible that we could find an extra $44 billion from any source.
So, tell me, who still believes that we will somehow magically get subways if we hold out for them? The last real subway line (not stump like Sheppard or one stations extension like Islington to Kipling) was built in 1976 from St. George to Wilson.
Just what we need, more privacy & closed meetings at the TTC.
Although he’s got a point on outsourcing and managed competition for city services.
Disappointing. I think bike lanes on major arterials benefit both drivers and cyclists. When driving and I see a cyclist, I try and move to the left. However when this isn’t possible, I get nervous when passing cyclists since I’m worried I might not be far enough over to pass him safely, or too far over and risk causing an accident with the cars in the passing lane. Cycling lanes remove this worry.
With that said, this does not mean I support putting bike lanes EVERYWHERE. Considering the controversy with Jarvis, and with near by north-south roads already offering bike lanes, I question if this was the best place to put new ones.
Rather than cancel Transit City, I’d rather he (or another candidate) evaluate the current stops and try to remove some which are unnecessary. I also think it is funny how right wingers bash the St. Clair ROW saying it costs too much, yet in the same breath say we should have built subways instead. St. Clair cost about $100 million, and that wouldn’t even be enough to build a subway from St. Clair and Yonge to Avenue Rd!
On the plus side, it is not as if he is going to get elected anyways.
I read this as if it was an article on the Onion. Is this april fools? I am surprised bike lanes actually came up though..I just don’t understand the play there. Getting rid of bike lanes? …….seriously this is what you start with? I wish Case Ootes was running or Rob Ford *shiver*. I hope someone forwards James great ideas to him.
I think most of these comments are pre-mature. having attended his announcement, it seemed to me that he was proposing a hugely expanded bike lane system – but on secondary roads; which have significantly less congestion of all types, including pedestrian/cyclist traffic and in many cases run beautifully parallel to the major arteries. and in terms of the ttc, my impression of his position was that something that was budgeted to cost 40 million, shouldn’t cost 120 million. that screws up everybody’s budget – and just isn’t the way to run any agency owned by the residents of toronto. so he wants many of the proposed components “on hold” until a review is complete. and I say to all those who have posted here… why not? why not make sure that this works. what possible down-side could there be to invite non-politicians (many of whom are great city builders… I don’t remember Jane Jacobs running for mayor) to assess the validity of the projects and those that have priced the projects. anyway, i think we are all well intentioned – and people who post are, like me, just worried for the future. and I really truly liked what i heard today from Rossi. I have to admit, I left thinking this IS the man.
Good to see a candidate actually talk about issues and put out some type of platform. Wonder how long the others will take to come up with something of consequence to say.
Kudos to Rossi for beginning to elevate the debate.
Well. I guess that’s decided then– not voting for Rossi.
All well and good to review, put in place moratoriums, and cancel projects, but at what cost to the city? In addition, it makes absolutely NO sense to possibly remove already-installed bike lanes– those that were installed after full public consultation and democratic debate.
a hugely expanded bike lane system – but on secondary roads; which have significantly less congestion of all types, including pedestrian/cyclist traffic and in many cases run beautifully parallel to the major arteries.
Yeah, putting bike lanes on secondary roads is *just* like having them on arterial roads. I mean, if they run parallel, then what’s the difference, right?
I don’t know why I bother, because you’ve already demonstrated yourself to be a big enough idiot to think we’d believe you that you weren’t already some Rossi shill, and it was his grand vision and oratory that convinced you…
A few important points:
First, if Rossi is concerned, as he claims, about operating costs of an expanded TTC LRT network, he should also look at the Vaughan Subway that will add over $10-million annually to the TTC’s costs, net of any new fare revenue. This info is right in the TTC’s capital budget.
The TTC should be deeply ashamed of the screwup on St. Clair’s operation as well as other fiascos like the fare increase, but the Commissioners are too busy being cheerleaders when they should be roasting management’s ass.
They should remember that TTC management is not their constituency in the election, that is unless there are a lot more TTC managers living in Toronto than I know of (grin).
McKingford — you may not WANT Rossi to be anything but a fringe candidate, but that doesn’t make it so. I attended a luncheon speech in a room absolutely packed with people, some of them who have lots of money and political connections. The press corps was out in full regalia. The MSM will give him a lot of ink tomorrow, and his rivals — Giambrone and Smitherman especially — are now forced to respond. What’s more, he comes into the race with a formidable network of political (Liberal, some Tory) connections that will turn into his machine. So I am not going to ignore his candidacy, like some kind of ostrich. I covered LeDrew, btw, and he’s no LeDrew. This is different, so I suggest you pay attention.
Inside Toronto has a quote:
“I spend a lot of time on my bike in the city, but as mayor I’d call a truce in the war on the car by opposing any further bike lanes on arterial roads – including Jarvis Street,” he said. “I’d couple this with fast-tracking the completion of Toronto’s bike lane network on quieter streets parallel to arterial roads. Because common sense and safety tell me that bike lanes and arterial roads don’t mix.”
I wonder if he’ll propose to ban bikes from using arterials altogether for safety reasons? Based on cities where cycling is safe and popular, you’d think that building bike lanes and segregated facilities on busy roads where shops, housing, and jobs are concentrated would be a way to improve safety.
Well… Rossi just made it very easy for me to not vote for him. Transit City should be the start of a region wide transit approach – not the end of it (a bias – I am a daily transit user, only part-time driver).
He made it easier for a lot of people on this site not to vote for him, including me, but his message is going to resonate with a lot of people. Promises like “managed competition for city services, starting with garbage collection” are going to be big crowd pleasers.
Rossi is going to be a serious contender.
I agree with Bruce’s comments. Rossi has essentially announced with his review/moratorium that he wants to throw away funding agreements for Transit City, and all the work that has been put into it so far. He will give the feds and provincial government both an opportunity to back away from funding these plans while Toronto sorts itself out, and then what? Three, four more years of study, several more years of obtaining funding from other levels of governments, and the shovels in the ground for some kind of new transit in … 2020? Maybe?
Yes, more “review”, that’s what we need. I was hoping for more “review” on transit. Shelves and shelves and shelves of “review”.
I’d like to remind people to not conflate the sentiments in the comment threads of the Star and Globe with the sentiments of the public. In other words, just because you read a lot of comments that would like what Rocco is proposing doesn’t mean this is what the larger public wants.
Ugh. This hands it all over to Smithy.
I wonder if a mayoralty candidate would be bold enough to suggest scrapping the Spadina subway expansion and build it as an LRT instead, which is more in keeping with the ridership it will serve.
Larry O’Brien won in Ottawa, largely based on his promise to cancel (“hit the rest button”) on our proposed light rail network. Killing LRT win votes in Ontario. Don’t discount Rossi.
andrew, McKingford, et at > I think John’s comment is right on – when you get out of the lefty downtown bubble, there are a LOT of people who are fine and good but their political passions don’t hinge on bike lanes and Transit City. Toronto’s big, big big – it goes forever in all 3 directions and is full of folks who hear things like that and it seems OK. They aren’t radical right wingers or populist loons, they just have other priorities. So yes, it may seem like all-of-my-friends think he just blew the election, but Toronto is bigger than all-of-my-friends, so paying close attention to how he’s wedging himself into the city, politically, is good politics-watching. More fun than West Wing reruns (well, maybe the writing isn’t as good).
Remember the parable of the tortoise and the hare. I think we’ve just watched the hare (or should that be “hare-less” or fill in your own) go scampering out of the gate.
The media included Stephen LeDrew as one of the “frontrunners” in the last campaign and where did he end up? Wayyyyyy down the list.
Shawn (and John), to be clear, my derision of Rossi’s candidacy has little to do with his policy positions; I have little doubt that eliminating bike lanes (and bikes, for that matter), tearing up streetcar lines and privatizing garbage collection resonates with a segment of the population. For all its “progressivity”, Toronto elected the Lastman clownshow. Twice. So I don’t live in a lefty bubble.
My point about Rossi is this: his only claim that made him a “viable” candidate was that he could raise $1.5M for a campaign. Now I realize that having willing donors is important, and necessary. It isn’t, however, the sole basis for a candidacy. His announcement as a candidate has been treated with all sorts of fanfare and seriousness – much more than, for instance, Giorgio Mammoliti, who, for all his many faults, at least has a (long) record in elected office. This is, to say the least, quite bizarre.
Now, with respect to John Lorinc’s point, I suppose it is too late to change the media narrative. If you anoint a candidate as a serious contender – and now, as the Right’s official candidate, and this gets lots of media attention, I suppose, by default, it becomes true. But this shouldn’t stop a meta look by the media at how the utterly baseless (his *claim* to be able to raise to the statutory limit remains just that) the Rossi phenomenon is. His *only* claim to seriousness is that which the public – of all political stripes – loathes the most: backroom dealing party bagman. He has no political experience or record. He has no known record of public service or accomplishment. He certainly hasn’t shown any grassroot support.
So maybe he is, now, a serious candidate, but this is solely an invention of the media. I swear it’s like watching Peter Sellers in Being There all over again.
Those who are getting apoplectic at the pull quotes in the article should do themselves a favour and read the entire speech.
http://www.roccorossi.com/pdf/RoccoRossi_EmpireClub_Speech.pdf
I find the characterization of Rossi’s views on bike lanes in this thread to be the furthest distortion, but there are others. I myself would like him to clarify his thoughts on transit city. The comments that are getting the most airing are not in the speech and seem to have come from a Q&A afterward. The reality is any new mayor is going to review transit city to suit their preferences, given the amount of operating and capital dollars tied into it, and given public transit’s central role in driving the growth of the city. I’m not sure the “cancel transit city” message that has emerged (at least here) is a fair reflection of his views or his comments.
While overall I think placing municipal politicians on a political spectrum is silly, it appears to me from his speech that Rossi is running from the centre, tacking right of Smitherman. Strategically this in interesting. Rossi appears to be counting on a Millerite to enter the race, sound the right notes on bike lanes, promise business as usual to the public sector unions, and take that wedge away from Smitherman. It will be interesting to see if Giambrone steps forward to be Rossi’s useful idiot.
A before someone typically ignores the merits of my post and labels me a shill, I am not on the Rossi team.
Regarding Rossi’s comments on unions, I am appalled but not surprised that a candidate should want to use this rhetoric during a period when the mood in TO has become more anti-union than ever before. Some of this mood is attributable to the recession and the extremely high unemployment rate in TO, but I think Mayor Miller is also responsible for a good deal of it (despite the oft-repeated claims about how much of a friend he is to labor). His handling of the strike this past summer was particularly destructive. To many outsiders, his tactics (dealing through the media, ass-dragging on tabling proposals) seemed intent on prolonging the showdown with the unions so that he could come out looking like a “get tough on unions” Mayor in a run-up to possible 3rd mayoral bid. The false expectations that he fostered that the City was going to get rid of the sick bank were no doubt meant to play to the anti-union crowd whose support he needed. But of course, when this wasn’t delivered on (and those who know anything about negotiations knew that it wouldn’t), the inevitable happened… the anti-union rhetoric was cranked up several-fold, thereby providing a platform where the likes of Rossi could spout their anti-union and contracting-out claptrap. Without the experience of summer’s bitter strike still fresh in residents’ minds, Rossi’s nonsense would have considerably less resonance.
Many have said (including many in the labor movement), that the concessions the union made could likely have been achieved without a strike. But that approach wouldn’t have enabled the Mayor to cultivate his “tough on unions” image as he faced a 3rd term. So thank you Mayor Miller for doing your part to ratchet up the anti-union sentiment in this town… and thank you for playing straight man (not being used in NOW’s sense of the term) to the likes of Rossi.
Bob,
While you may look at as throwing away funding agreements ( which in itself is conjecture), maybe he is looking at it more realistically.
Take the projected cost of Transit City and multiply it by T.I.F. (Toronto Incompetency Factor, a derived from Fez Batik and St. Clair LRT), currently at ~2x. Unless the agreements with the other levels of governments will cover the guaranteed cost overruns any candidate should be wary. The city certainly has no appetite to cover the potential shortfalls. As evidenced by the draining of reserves and provincial begging, it has difficulty paying for what what it provides today.
This is quite a gamble for a city that is getting older and has become the bedroom community for the neighbouring municipalities.
From TPH….
Our population increased by 205,740 or 9% from 1991 to 2001. By 2011, the population is projected to increase by a further 299,445 or 12%. The overall population is ageing with the median age at 36.9 years in 2001, up from 35.5 years five years ago. Seniors 65 years and older increased by 16% since 1991 and are projected to increase by 21% by 2011. People who are eligible to retire have also increased relative to the rest of the population. This is projected to increase dramatically in the next 10 years.
Our ageing population has major implications for the labour force, our economy, social services and heath care systems.
quoting Undecided: “Rossi appears to be counting on a Millerite to enter the race, sound the right notes on bike lanes, promise business as usual to the public sector unions, and take that wedge away from Smitherman. It will be interesting to see if Giambrone steps forward to be Rossi’s useful idiot.”
Does David Miller’s deputy mayor, Joe Pantalone, not count as a Millerite?
And it’s not just Undecided here; the entire media seems to be treating Giambrone as a much more serious NDP/Miller-linked candidate than Pantalone, and I don’t really see any good reason for this in their records.
The problem with reflexively dismissing Rossi’s comments about TC is that pesky St. Clair report. TTC has passed judgement on itself via their handpicked, frequently used consultant Richard Soberman and has decided “we won’t make that mistake again”.
Is that their decision to make when they are being entrusted with billions of public dollars, most of which came from Torontonians either through local, federal or provincial taxes? Should they be pushing ahead with Sheppard (beyond the GO grade sep which is a good thing anyway) when the last proposed interface I’ve heard of with the subway at Don Mills is deficient (only one platform for subway and the other for LRT – hope neither breaks down!)
(Some people have criticised Rossi because TC is not part of the City capital budget, but as he mentioned there are operating cost implications to the expansion and the TTC is counting on a lower capital requirement for buses where they are being replaced by trams).
+1 Shawn @10.27
Darwin – the problem is that we do need the Spadina extension IN PART (i.e. to Steeles in order to remove the need for York U students to have an enforced change at Downsview), and the part we don’t need is not in a Toronto mayor’s jurisdiction, even though Toronto will, under contract, bear the losses that part of the extension will cause.
J.M:
While Pantalone is certainly associated with Miller, I don’t get the sense that he will be running on Miller’s issues or record, but rather his own in both cases. Giambrone is more closely associated with Miller’s project and is likely to run in defence of the achievements of the Miller mayorality. Giambrone is also more closely associated with Miller’s core consitutuencies (unions, NDP, enviro crowd).
a small sidebar. The Heart and Stroke foundation Lottery is filled with prizes that are giant SUV’s.
http://lottery2.heartandstroke.on.ca/w10/grand.html
Former Budget chief David Soknacki perhaps summed it up best…….
Despite this handicap, Toronto’s mayors have been determined not to surrender control of the political agenda. It is unfortunate, though, that they have made a difficult situation far more problematic by undertaking initiatives that are breathtaking in scope, with little regard for underlying financial realities or the ability to deliver over the long term.
—
Another example is Mayor David Miller’s vision for transit. Conceived to take advantage of an upcoming provincial election, light rapid transit lines were drawn across city maps with little consultation and no funding. It caught the imagination of the campaigning provincial Liberals, who promised millions – contingent on the federal Conservatives being similarly obliging.
Before long, the city’s administration and transit planners were approving contracts. Even though transit faces challenges maintaining existing routes, funding was reallocated and long-term commitments were made. When the federal government finally refused funding, the city found it had new obligations to honour. Nevertheless, it continued with expansion by increasing debt and deferring other projects.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/754166–urban-vision-carries-a-price
Putting a “hold” on the TC project will have the same cost-saving effects as putting the hold on the St. Clair line did. Go over the plans a second time, and a third, and a fourth, and make sure everything is right, but don’t stop projects mid-stream. That’s hardly fiscal responsibility!
I find the notion that Rossi putting a pause on TC necessarily causing a reset on funding agreements interesting. It’s the same kind of “there is no alternative” talk that got the railroading through of the agreement with Bombardier for the streetcars (after Baird’s outburst convinced Miller he wasn’t going to cave). As I noted at the time, it was incredible that the City of Toronto were claiming BBD would walk from the largest light rail order in the world by $ for the sake of a short interval to regroup.
The main problem for Rossi is how far TC will have progressed before he might become mayor, how many contracts signed and thus how many penalties the City would become liable for (as was the case in Ottawa).
That we might become Ottawa is harder to believe. Let’s face it – this is the burgh that took cars BBD couldn’t sell and constructed a light rail that *almost* goes to the airport, but doesn’t, using vehicles that could outpace the Transitway buses, but often don’t and has the ability to cross the river to Gatineau – who inexplicably don’t want the O-Train either. We’re dumb but we’re not THAT dumb… right?
Rossi’s idea for S.37 is crap by the way.
Apart from the legalities, fees like S.37 should compensate an area for impacts to that area caused by overbuilding. Transferring that to priority neighbourhood just means it’s a tax, and that the necessary social infrastructure won’t get built, or will depend on the great and the good graciously donating it and getting a kickback in their taxes (see Museum Station)
Transit City will be the defining piece of infrastructure development in the inner suburbs for decades to come. It has been funded, it must be built. Mayor Miller and the City’s transit planners who responsible for this must ensure that it gets done as soon as possible. Rossi should know that there are better things to challenge and contest in this election. An anti-transit agenda like this would/should alienate both downtown and suburban voters.
Re: a reset on funding agreements. I do not know what the conditions attached to TC funding might be, but they would certainly have some deadlines in terms of approvals, beginning of work etc. I do not know of any case where government funding is completely open-ended and not subject to time limits. And if Rossi’s moratorium on TC actually results in any significant changes to the plan, I am likewise sure that the funding would need to be renogotiated.
Besides, if I were the feds or Ontario, and saw an opportunity in tight times to save a considerable amount of money on a previous funding committment, and with a free hand to place the blame on the city (we were willing to fund this proposal and look forward to considering new proposals as they are brought forth from the City of Toronto), I would be sorely tempted to take that opportunity.
I could be wrong, Rossi could be genuine in wanting to improve Transit City and the funding might be secure, but it’s not something that I myself will be taking a chance on by voting for him.
I’m not so sure that TO would lose the funding if Transit City was reviewed or cancelled. At least in Ottawa’s case, despite the cancellation of the NS LRT the funding has still been available and set aside for Ottawa’s use. It just takes a while to draw up a new plan.
Rossi admitted to a lack of knowledge about transit city a couple months ago but now thinks it should all be put on hold. He obviously does not have much regard for the opinion of the countless transit planners and advocates that have spent years creating these plans. Sounds like just another ego-maniac political wanna-be.
If Mr. Rossi wants to be taken seriously, he should be better informed before making capaign statements.
The Finch, Sheppard, & Eglinton TC lines are being substantially paid for by the senior levels of government not the city.
As per operating costs of the new lines: the higher capacity light rail vehicles will be replacing buses on heavily used lines. Even in mid morning on Finch I have seen buses run close together.)
I like what Rossi says about having managed competition for city services. Why don’t we have bidding for city services? Doesn’t the city put out bids when purchasing desks, chairs, etc – I hope they do. Why should it not do the same for services? I do it when given the chance. Let’s get some competition so that we, as a city, get the best value for our taxes.
Regarding bike lanes on arterial roads, I tend to agree with Rossi, especially on the larger roads in the north end of the city. When I see the traffic on Bayview Avenue north of Eglinton, I do not think it is wise to implement a bike lane on that road, unless the road is widened specifically for a dedicated bike lane. Also, when discussing bike lanes, I don’t think we can expect Toronto to have the same bike infrastructure as most western European cities which tend to have a more densely populated urban environment and usually a more mild climate.
BTW, I take transit to work every day and love to ride my bike in the city but am very leery about doing so on major roads, although I do.
I think the role of local government is to establish long term policy and civic planning, identify current issues and make decisions on how best to implement these. Whether they use government employees or private individuals to do this is not my concern as long as it is done with appropriate openness and thought and with the best interests the citizens in mind.
With bike lanes, sometimes I’d trade some for others – and a Bloor St. bike lane is the clear logical cross-town route that is fairest to all of our interests, including merchants, as there’s largescale non-car mobility with the subway, along with a lot of off-street parking atop it. So Mr. Rossi may need to adjust his platform, but the progressives haven’t done a darn thing for bikes on Bloor except commit to a further level of study four years after the initial one, and they’re truly blowing the opportunity for easy bike lanes in the Yorkville area by making the new road 1M too narrow, wasting the needed 1M beside the new planters!
As for Transit City – the first few lines are likely very good investments – so it’s stupid to be messing them up, but with further out parts of the plan, like the Jane LRT and the WWLRT, they’re not always such a smart, wise thing. We need to have a re-set of the planning behind those two, that also brings in using the Weston Corridor for public non-GO transit and Front St., as was suggested 20 years ago.
I am posting this as a proxy for David McDonald……..
‘The biggest reason why Rossi is the best long term choice for future TTC expansion is that he is the only candidate who might confront the Building Trades union monopoly of construction tendering of Transit projects. Last week Smitherman received the endorsement of the Carpenters’ union indicating that he has sold out the idea of open competition on Toronto Building projects and will support a union monopoly policy that inflates costs by at least 30% just a under Miller. If Toronto is to afford the infrastructure we need this sort of pandering to union interests that is endemic under Miller must end if the public is to buy into the necessary costs; and not be frustrated by the true stories of inflated costs.’