Urbanists, Council Revolt Over Toronto's Transit Plans

The Globe and Mail's coverage of Toronto's transit controversy continues with two articles: one on an open letter signed by 117 planners, transit experts and other urbanists calling Mayor Ford's $8 billion subway plan "radically out of sync" with current practice, while a majority of Toronto's city council are submitting a petition calling for a special council session on transit.

At issue is Ford's unilateral decision (now under legal scrutiny) to scrap the former Mayor's (largely surface) LRT plans in favor of a single subway.

"Mr. Ford has insisted Toronto taxpayers want subways and nothing less, and has rallied the support of Scarborough councillors and some provincial politicians for his plan to bury the Crosstown's eastern section. He repeated the mantra last week, after an opposition councillor released a legal opinion that found the mayor had no authority to impose his subway plan without council approval.

[T]his latest broadside against Mr. Ford shows that opposition to his plan is coalescing in a way that echoes last fall's waterfront fight....If the group [on Council] holds together to vote against the mayor, it will mean a stunning defeat for Mr. Ford on a central plank of his administration."