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Morning Brew: OneCity goes before council, Sheppard subway financing was flawed, Toronto 2nd in Canadian traffic, a resume error, and geese on the Gardiner

Posted by Chris Bateman / July 11, 2012

22 Comments

toronto kew beach lifeguardIt's crunch time for the OneCity transit proposal this morning as city council prepares to convene and vote whether to study the vast expansion project or send it down the chute like so many other visions for Toronto's transportation network. Some say the plan conceived by TTC chair Karen Stintz and vice chair Glenn De Baeremaeker is already dead, others say it's only pining for the fjords. Call this one if you dare in the comment section.

Also in transit, The Globe and Mail reports that senior City of Toronto officials highlighted serious flaws in Gordon Chong's Sheppard subway financing plan only for the information to be left out of the final report submitted to council. Private-sector consultant KPMG, hired to produce the funding report, excluded the information from the paperwork which was nevertheless still rejected by council in March.

According to a new survey by GPS maker TomTom, Vancouver has worse traffic problems than Toronto. But don't worry, we still have it pretty rough; Toronto's drivers have the ninth worse commute in North America in terms of time spent in traffic, with Thursdays officially the worst day to be a driver in the city. According to the survey, Fridays are is the best.

The Revue cinema on Roncesvalles is getting a brand new digital projector, like ones used in major movie theatres, in advance of distributors switching away from celluloid in January 2013. The change could put other independent movie houses in trouble, though, reports The Grid.

We've all forgotten to attach a document to an email before, but Vanessa Hojda, a York student, probably had redder cheeks. The second-year psychology student accidentally sent a picture of Nicolas Cage instead of her resumé in application for a receptionist position. Surprisingly, no call back.

Suddenly, geese!

And finally, here's an animation from Metrolinx showing how the underground section of the Crosstown LRT will be constructed. Just don't call these boring machines boring.

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Photo: "Kew Balmy Beach 9299" by sniderscion in the blogTO Flickr pool.

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22 Comments

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Duh / July 11, 2012 at 08:31 am
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I support our traffic getting worse. New Yorks traffic got worse then they got decent transit, bike lanes and now most people know not to drive in the city. It's all cabs. As much as I hate all the condos popping up the are creating a population that will fund the building of this city into a major competitor. Horrible traffic=growing pains. You no like? Stay in the burbs.
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j-rock / July 11, 2012 at 08:35 am
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What else is there to say about the state of transit planning in this city? I hope that the people in charge get their collective acts together someday. And I hope I'm still alive to see it. The Leafs will probably win a cup before we have a downtown relief line, or even close the loop between Downsview and Sheppard.
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Ratpick replying to a comment from Duh / July 11, 2012 at 08:57 am
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"As much as I hate all the condos popping up the(y) are creating a population that will fund the building of this city into a major competitor"

I admire your optimism, but I suspect you are new to this city and not yet versed in its planning foibles.

Downtown transit is not going to be improved in our lifetimes.
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the lemur replying to a comment from Duh / July 11, 2012 at 09:11 am
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It's not as simple as that. NYC had decent transit long before their traffic got bad and they kept investing in it, then many major thoroughfares were made one-way to keep traffic flowing through (and out of) Manhattan, then the pedestrianization/cycling infrastructure came in the past decade or so. What we need here is more awareness that not every trip downtown by car is essential or guaranteed to be easy, a willingness to sacrifice on-street parking for the sake of traffic flow AND a plan and the means to invest in transit for the long term. I suspect congestion will come to a crisis point well before we have the transit to address the situation, unfortunately.
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Sounds Like replying to a comment from the lemur / July 11, 2012 at 09:37 am
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What is this, a sensible argument and proposed solutions that, while inconvenient for some, will actually benefit all in the long term?
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Chris replying to a comment from Sounds Like / July 11, 2012 at 09:59 am
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No, can't be. Its the internet after all - reasonable, well-thought out opinions are generally not welcome here. LOL.
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I deserve a half page write-up in the Star / July 11, 2012 at 10:14 am
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Is there anyone here who has NOT accidentally attached the wrong file to an email/txt before? You know, like mistakenly sent your mom a photo of your package from your iPhone instagram, or emailed your wife nudies of your teenage girlfriend? I doubt it.
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j-rock replying to a comment from Chris / July 11, 2012 at 10:20 am
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"People want subways. SUBWAYS! SUBWAYS! SUBWAYS! And they don't want to pay for them".

THAT's how we debate transit in Toronto. Get with it.
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Duh replying to a comment from the lemur / July 11, 2012 at 10:20 am
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I agree but let's not deny that New York had plenty of growing pains way back when. Necessity dictates. Sometimes a city needs the problem before they are able to accept the solutions is what I'm trying to say.
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the lemur replying to a comment from Duh / July 11, 2012 at 10:51 am
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Right. Unfortunately we should have started years ago in addressing the transit mobility file for its own sake rather than as an attempt to address road congestion, which we can't do much about anymore in terms of road-building.
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Duh replying to a comment from the lemur / July 11, 2012 at 11:04 am
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do you have a time machine? We know. its frustrating. The calling certain downtown streets one ways would definitely be a step in the right direction. all is not lost. decent transit might not happen in our lifetime but if it happens in our childrens lifetime isn't that better than nothing? My only point is that traffic is good. it will force people hand. i hated the condos but i realize now that it is those ugly everywhere cranes that are going to provide the population that will that will fund the infrastructure that this city so desperately needs.
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the lemur replying to a comment from Duh / July 11, 2012 at 11:26 am
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I'm not suggesting going back in time even if we could. I agree that traffic congestion and increasing population density will drive the future of urban planning and mobility management, one way or another. My only point originally was that NYC's 'decent transit' didn't follow from traffic problems; the traffic problem developed *despite* decent transit being well established. We can definitely look to NYC and other cities on how to deal with congestion and development generally.
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Mark / July 11, 2012 at 11:32 am
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Down with one city, not with my taxes!
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vampchick21 replying to a comment from Mark / July 11, 2012 at 01:05 pm
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Then what exactly should your taxes pay for if not in part for decent public transit? What exactly do you think municipal government should do with your tax dollars? And how should the municipal government cover increasing costs without increasing necessary municipal taxes? Again, this is what I don't understand about such a mindset. Where should the money come from since there's no magic money producing fairies and what should it be earmarked for since you know, what it's technically for is unworthy of it in your mind.
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Why transit? / July 11, 2012 at 01:18 pm
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I don't get why we're investing in transit at all. Transit is typically used by the poor, who contribute little/nothing to society anyway, so why do we care how quickly they get to where they're going? Invest in roadways, because the people that use them actually matter. I hope Ford can stall any kind of transit plan his entire time in office (sorry lefties, it's gonna be a long time too!).
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vampchick21 replying to a comment from Why transit? / July 11, 2012 at 01:49 pm
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My gods but you're pretty ignorant. Transit users are not poor, I use transit daily and I'm not poor. And I'm certain that the thousand and thousands of people on transit with me each day going to work in the office towers are not poor either. We just made a choice to use transit rather than contribute to the unnecessary congestion of cars on the city streets. And frankly, we all matter, sorry to tell you. Rich, old, white suburbanites who vote based on catchy slogans are hardly the only people who matter.

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Why Transit? replying to a comment from vampchick21 / July 11, 2012 at 02:00 pm
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I'm sorry but nobody chooses to intentionally cram themselves into a tight space plastered between man who has not showered in 3 weeks and woman who picks her nose and wipes it on other people's jackets. You take transit because you cannot afford either a) a car, or b) parking downtown if you do own a car - thus you are poor. Spare me your save the whales and beavers bullsh1t, nobody is buying it.
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vampchick21 / July 11, 2012 at 02:08 pm
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You might want to stop posting now, your ignorance is showing.
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vampchick21 replying to a comment from Why Transit? / July 11, 2012 at 02:09 pm
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And yes, I can afford both a car and the cost of parking. I've just chosen not to both with either.
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j-rock replying to a comment from vampchick21 / July 11, 2012 at 02:09 pm
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You forgot the first rule of internet discussion boards; don't feed the trolls. "Why Transit?" knows not all transit users are poor. In fact, the most affluent areas of the city are the best served by transit.
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vampchick21 replying to a comment from j-rock / July 11, 2012 at 02:14 pm
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I know, I know....but I'm in a mood, so I fell for the obvious troll. At least, I hope it's an obvious troll, because it would be a tragedy if there existed a person who actually believes that garbage and idiocy they spouted.
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Gabe / July 11, 2012 at 10:17 pm
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THE JAMIE BELL PLAYGROUND

Grand Reopening this Friday, July 13 at 1:30 pm

Update (July 9, 2012): Thank you to the over 800 people who came out to help yesterday. The rain did not dampen anyones enthusiasm. Unfortunately due to the heat wave we just could not get the castle finished in time which did restrict what we could work on. We did however move the enormous pile of wood chips, we designed and painted 500 wooden shields, repainted the rooftops of the old structure and painted murals on the two buildings to the east side of the playground. Families had fun in the picnic area with food, drinks, and entertainment for everyone. The fire department had fire trucks, water spray, bouncy castles, and 11th Division brought Blinky the talking police car. Mike Holmes and his team will be back at the playground this week to finish the build. We will be looking for help to move the remaining wood chips under the new structure so it can be CSA approved.


http://www.ward13.ca/
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