Reactions to Ontario's Subway Takeover Plan

Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a plan to replace Toronto's subway expansion plans with a vision of his own. Reactions have been pouring in ever since.

2 minute read

April 17, 2019, 2:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell

Vadim Rodnev / Shutterstock

That sound last week in Toronto was the ground shaking as the provincial government completely up-ended transit planning in Canada's most populous city.

As Planetizen detailed on April 10, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a new plan for subway expansion in Toronto announced a plan to shelve existing plans to build the Relief Line subway, and instead build a subway spanning Ontario Place to the Ontario Science Centre, dubbed the "Ontario Line." Premier Ford also announced plans to construct four additional new subway routes: the Scarborough Subway Extension, the Yonge North Subway Extension, and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.

We've rounded up the opinions, editorials, and analysis published in the days since that ground-shaking announcement, collected here for your consideration in assessing the significance, and the likelihood for success, of Premier Ford's big move on transit.

Doug Ford’s transit map looks nice; getting there is another matter (Toronto Star, April 10)
Sitting pretty in the driver’s seat, Doug Ford wants subway riders to take a leap of faith (Toronto Star, April 10)
How Doug Ford’s $28.5-billion transit overhaul compares with Toronto’s existing plans (Toronto Star, April 10)
What exactly is the Ontario Line and what does it mean for riders’ commutes? (Toronto Star, April 10)
Premier Doug Ford's $28.5B Toronto transit plan is remarkably off-brand (National Post, April 10)
The lines on Doug Ford's transit plan paint his foes into a corner (Toronto.com, April 10)
Doug Ford Introduces ‘Ontario Line’ And Everyone Has Questions (Toronto Storeys, April 10)
Another Toronto transit plan to stick on the fridge (Globe and Mail, April 12)
EDITORIAL: Ford’s subway plan is bold -- if it ever gets built (Toronto Sun, April 14)
Toronto has 61 questions about province’s transit plans (Toronto Star, April 16)
Is Doug Ford on track with his transit plan? Yes (Toronto Star, April 16)
Is Doug Ford on track with his transit plan? No (Toronto Star, April 16)

Government / Politics Infrastructure Transportation Toronto New Subway Transit Plan for the GTA Premier Doug Ford Transit Planning TTC Subway Ontario Line Eglinton Crosstown West Extension Scarborough Subway Scarborough Subway Extension Yonge North Subway Extension View More

James Brasuell

James Brasuell, AICP is the former editorial director of Planetizen and is now a senior public affairs specialist at the Southern California Association of Governments. James managed all editorial content and direction for Planetizen from 2014 to 2023, and was promoted from manging editor to editorial director in 2021. After a first career as a class five white water river guide in Trinity County in Northern California, James started his career in Los Angeles as a volunteer at a risk reduction center in Skid Row.

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