Toronto's recently elected Mayor Rob Ford has announced that Toronto will build a subway extension -- but nobody knows where the $4 billion needed to build it will come from.
Ford killed Toronto's previous Transit City plan and replaced it with a subway, but there is no budget for it. Ford insists that the private sector will finance it and the city will own and operate it, but many fear that Toronto's taxpayers will be on the hook instead. Marcus Gee of the Globe and Mail writes,
"Under the transit plan announced by Mr. Ford and Premier Dalton McGuinty, the provincial government will spend virtually all of the $8.4-billion dedicated to the now-defunct Transit City plan on a new midtown light-rail line. Much of it will travel underground, at Mr. Ford's insistence, adding enormously to its expense.
That leaves no money for rapid transit on the busy Finch Avenue corridor, which was supposed to get a light-rail line under Transit City but will now have to make do with buses for at least a decade. More important, it leaves the city of Toronto on its own to pay for Mr. Ford's favoured project: a $4-billion extension of the Sheppard Avenue subway."
FULL STORY: Mayor should put his money where his plans are

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?
TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

Toronto Weighs Cheaper Transit, Parking Hikes for Major Events
Special event rates would take effect during large festivals, sports games and concerts to ‘discourage driving, manage congestion and free up space for transit.”

Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan
The area bound by the 22-mile Ringbahn would still allow 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person, and several other exemptions.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)