Toronto parking garage called 'waste of money' but there's more than meets the eye

The University of Toronto's Landmark Project has turned a corner with the completion of its largest element with the opening of a new underground garage below King's College Circle — but some are calling this addition to the campus a colossal waste of money.

The new parking garage below the front campus, which ran a bill in the millions of dollars and took three years to construct, accommodates just 263 vehicles and 88 bicycles in a densely-populated area of the city just steps from multiple subway stations and streetcar lines.

UofT’s multi-million dollar underground parking garage is open pic.twitter.com/wOFeEHpEHE

— Every Toronto Station (@EveryTOStation) March 4, 2024

A parking garage is, somewhat ironically, the centrepiece in the Landmark Project's bid to lower carbon emissions at the U of T's St. George Campus, as the structure was built as the capstone in a massive geothermal energy field that stretches deep underground.

A little preview of the parking garage under Kings College Circle @UofT pic.twitter.com/gZUgT63Qhn

— jnyyz 🚲 (@jnyyz) March 5, 2024

Harnessing thermal energy far below the surface to heat and cool buildings, this project is expected to cut down on carbon emissions at the campus by 30 per cent.

It accomplishes this through almost 375 boreholes that stretch an astonishing 240 metres below ground — about as deep as the Commerce Court West and CIBC Square office towers are tall.

The geothermal field is anticipated to help the campus slash carbon emissions by approximately 15,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases annually.

Despite the geothermal energy project's contributions to a cleaner environment, the seven-figure price tag and the choice to cap it all off with infrastructure that will support more polluting vehicles on campus—a stone's throw from transit—have some calling the project a waste of money.

What a colossal waste of money, @UofT is served by four (4) subway stations and two (2) streetcar lines, is right downtown, and they build gold standard underground parking?!?

— Long Branch Mike (LBM) (@LongBranchMike1) March 4, 2024

"Absolute waste of money especially in downtown Toronto where real estate is at a premium," says another user. 

"For a city that advocates on climate change blah blah blah, encouraging driving is the last thing you should do."

"I am embarrassed as a UofT grad student in transportation, and many of my colleagues are too," reads one comment on X. "My prof and most others commute by bike or public transit (GO Train, TTC)"

Only 88 bike parking spaces. Horrible use of money. pic.twitter.com/gL728bT5Vz

— Every Toronto Station (@EveryTOStation) March 4, 2024

Others echoed this sentiment, arguing that the garage should have been used to store more bikes versus cars.

The new U of T parking garage under the Front Campus (in front of the University College building) will have 263 spaces for cars and 88 spaces for bicycles and honestly it should have been the opposite (just to start) https://t.co/XcS9ueWRcP

— Moaz Ahmad (@yyzMYA) March 6, 2024

"City needs to up the bike minimums," reads another comment, adding, "In the core it's crazy to be building anything less than 1:1…especially for students and given the ebike surge."

Luckily, nothing is ever really permanent in this city. And with enough complaining, the masses could get their way and have this parking lot converted into an enormous bicycle storage area in the years or decades to come.