How Real Are Toronto's Big Transit Plans?

Oliver Moore writes a response to the news out of Toronto about an audacious transit plan put forward by the city's planning department in February. According to Moore, "residents could be forgiven if they tempered their optimism at the latest offering…with a dash of weariness," given the city's propensity for planning, but not delivering on big transit plans.

Moore intends to discover, an answer to the question of how likely the proposal is to be delivered. "The short answer is," explains Moore, "depends on which line. The next year will be crucial, as staff go through the messy and politically fraught business of figuring out and prioritizing the projects. City politicians have to decide how to pay for them."

Then Moore gets at the heart of an infinite amount of frustration and disappointment with transit planning the world over:

Handing decisions to unelected officials robs the process of democratic legitimacy. But leaving it in the hands of politicians, who may care more about the next vote than the next generation, carries the risk of constant detours, U-turns and cynical decisions.

This isn't the first time in recent weeks this question has come up. Taken together with an editorial by Ethan Elkind about the political process that created the new Gold Line extension in Los Angeles, we might say we have a trend in media commentary on transit planning.

Moore's article includes more detail about the political and bureaucratic process necessary to see the project's many components through. Also included is a list of all the projects included in the new plan, with descriptions of each proposed line.