5 announcements in 3 days: your week in transit news

It was a whirlwind week for transit planning: the provincial government announced funding for two separate projects, city staff unveiled revised proposalsfor two new routes, and downgradedridership projections put Mayor John Tory on the defensive about the Scarborough subway.

So what exactly is happening?

The downtown relief line

Thissubway, which city planners have been contemplating for decades,is meant to provide an alternate way into downtown, thereby taking some of the pressure off existing lines. At a public consultation in Scarborough on Tuesday, city staff revealed the latest proposal for the specific route the new subway would take.

In the latest proposed alignment, the new subway line would run south at Pape, turn west at Eastern Avenue, then connect to Queen and Osgoode Stations.

The next day, the provincial government announced $150 million in new funding to develop plans furtherthough construction of the line itself is not yet funded. Tory has estimated that it will take at least 12 to15 years before the route could open.

• Toronto's downtown relief line gets $150M in planning money from province

• Toronto's downtown relief line now has a 'preferred' route

"The relief line has always been the poor cousin to every other transit proposal," transit advocate Steve Munrotold CBC News,"because it's too big,and of course because it's downtown."

He said the important thing about the new moneyis that it will be enough to make real headway on the planning and design work.

The Scarboroughsubway

City staff also released newfiguresfor the Scarborough subway on Tuesday: according to their latest figures, and as a result of cutting the original three stops down to one,anticipated ridership has dropped by nearly half.

That figure,combined with the subway's $2billion price tag, renewed questions about whether it is the best choice for transit expansion.

• Revamped Scarborough subway plan would eliminate 2 of 3 planned stations

• Scarborough subway extension might not be as busy as expected, but mayor says still worth it

But Munro, who has been involved in Toronto transit for decades, says that the ship has sailed on the Scarborough subway, given its political appeal.

At this point, he argues, the better course would be to ramp up and make the route more robust:"If our heart is set on building a subway, let's not mess around."

With the single-stop plan, he continues,"northern Scarborough has lost the connection to the subway that it was going to get."

SmartTrack

The mayor's plan to userail corridorsfor a new rapid transit service also saw some adjustments this week, as staff revealed an updated route withfewer stations: seven stops, compared to the 13 Tory campaigned on.

This is another contentious plan which some observers charge has been motivated by politics rather than good planning. Richard Soberman, a transit planner and the former chair of the University of Toronto's civil engineering department, told CBC News he has concerns about which transit projects are being developed and prioritised.

"Right now the mayor is the big stumbling block. He's saying 'Oh yeah, we could have[the relief line], but I need to have my SmartTrack.'"

In his estimation, the downtown relief line is"unquestionably the most important thing for the city of Toronto," and all available money, including funding earmarked for SmartTrack, should be directed there.

The Richmond Hill subway extension

On Thursday, the province announced$55 million in new funding forthe Richmond Hill subway extension, whichwill seethe Yonge subway line expandnorth fromFinch andup to Highway 7.

But Tory has warned that this subway which could be built faster than the downtown relief line cannot be built while the existing system is so strained.

"Aprecondition to us participating actively and positively in any discussion of extending the YongeStreet subway to the north is that we have to have relief for Yonge street."

SmartTrack and the downtown relief line, he continued, speaking to CBC News from Winnipeg,"have to move forward so that we can even contemplate an northerly extension of the Yonge subway."

So what does it all mean?

Transit advocate Steve Munrotold CBC that all-told, this week's series of announcements left him feeling a bit more optimistic than he was before, especially the funding for the downtown relief line.

He is especially glad the money is going directly to the provincial transit agency, rather than being handed to politicians.

"Because it's Metrolinx's money, it preempts council's ability to have a debate about our priorities."

He is still concerned about the degree to which politics may take precedence over planning, however he suspects that the provincial government announced new funding for the Richmond Hill extension the day after it announced money for the downtown relief line, for instance, in order to demonstrate balance in various parts of the city.

Munroalso cites the recent decision to revisit newwaterfront transit, which hesays is a relatively cheap projectthat many municipal politicians areignoring because theyarewary of projects downtown.

But he said its impact on the community could also be huge.

"It iscertainly on a par with, if not higher than, the Scarborough subway in terms of city development."

Planner Richard Soberman agrees, saying he too finds small reasons for optimism, set against a larger backdrop of ongoing politicking.

"If you're sick you go see a doctor ... you go see someone who knows what they're talking about. The real problem with transportation at the urban level is that politiciansdon't know what they don't know, but they still control all the decisions."