Items

“In recent news that the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail transit won’t open in 2024 is yet another disappointing setback for the many Torontoians that live and work along the line that is al least a billion dollars over budget and has delays for years…Residents and businesses along 19 kilometres of Eglinton Avenue hav ebeen enduring over 12 years of hardship due to the endless construction…Despite repeated calls by City Council demanding greater transparency and accountability, Metorlinx continues to refuse to explain the repeated delays, cost overruns and won’t even set a forecasted completion date.”

“At its meeting on July 24, 2024, City Council approved the award of a contract to construct and deliver two new fully electric ferry vessels for operations to and from Toronto Island. This [item is] in response to Council's request outlines the work plan to install shoreside infrastructure at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal ("Shoreside Infrastructure Project")”.

“While the majority of transit planning efforts in the City of Toronto are focused on higher-order transit initiatives, bus and streetcar routes provide transit services across most parts of the city as complements to, and extensions of, the higher-order transit network. Currently, 70% of all TTC journeys include a surface transit trip. Improving the reliability of bus and streetcar transit supports the City's priority of keeping Toronto moving. A reliable surface transit network is essential to enable people to move around the city and access employment, business/retail, education and recreational/cultural facilities, particularly for Neighbourhood Improvement Areas and equity-deserving communities.”

“The Line 3 Scarborough Rapid Transit will be decommissioned by [the end of]2023, with the Scarborough Subway Extension set to replace it by 2030. In the interim, the Toronto Transit Commission has approved a plan to serve the SRT's 35,000 daily riders with up to 70 express buses per hour, using transit priority measures such as priority bus lanes and transit signal priority on key roads. These measures will connect Kennedy Station and Scarborough Town Centre Station. Monitoring will guide improvements and inform long-term transit strategies under the RapidTO program” which may help improve transit service and reduce impact on road users.

“In recent months, Toronto has experienced an increased level of traffic gridlock. This does not only impact motor vehicles, but also other modes of transportation, especially public transportation. It is important to attract riders back onto the TTC and our vast public network. Not only will this reduce the number of vehicles on the road, but it would encourage a wider array of transit options for commuters. Gridlock can be reduced and improved without major street reconstructions.”

This Item takes steps “to establish a credit facility with the Canada Infrastructure Bank [to finance] the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) procurement of Zero Emission Buses. As part of the overall process, the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) requires the City and the TTC to enter into a non- binding Memorandum of Understanding before a final agreement for a multi-year credit facility is completed.”

“The Surface Transit Network Plan is a roadmap to guide the planning, implementation, operation, maintenance, and monitoring of Toronto's transit priority measures…Once Council approves the Surface Transit Network Plan, City staff will undertake corridor-specific studies to determine the feasibility, benefits and impacts of various transit priority measures, informed by community consultation.”

The Toronto Transit Commission has informed the residents of Toronto that the Scarborough Rapid Transit – Scarborough Line 3 – will no longer run past 2023. This is 3 years sooner than what City Council was previously told and would leave Scarborough residents on long bus rides for 7 years if the province builds the still unfunded Scarborough Subway on time…The Toronto Transit Commission has estimated that the discontinuation of Scarborough Rapid Transit service will result in a loss of ridership due to an eighteen minute average increase in commute time. It is estimated that this inferior service will cost over $300 million in additional capital and operating costs. Further, the Toronto Transit Commission states that the increase in buses will cause traffic delays and impacts on local residential neighbourhoods

The Light Rapid Transit was approved, funded, and shovel-ready when it was cancelled in 2013 for a subway that was designed on the back of a napkin. Since that time there have been many different plans and promises to deliver a subway, but Scarborough residents are no closer to being delivered transit than they were seven years ago.” “The 7-stop Scarborough Light Rapid Transit would provide more service, for fewer dollars, and can be up and running sooner. It’s finally time for City Council to make the right decision to serve Scarborough residents

The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area's fare integration offers an "opportunity to increase transit ridership and improve affordability" for residents. The Provincial funding for the "$1.50 co-fare between GO Transit and the Toronto Transit Commission," was first introduced in 2018 and expired later on March 31, 2020. Despite this, demand was high, with "over 4.5 million more rides than were budgeted for in 2019-20." Toronto City Council supports the co-fare program and aims for "full and affordable fare integration," including a "single fare for all transit trips within the City of Toronto."

The cost of Toronto Transit Commission fares on a student’s monthly budget can be prohibitively expensive. Given the recent cuts to OSAP this can consume a significant portion of a student’s budget, with university tuition alone hovering around $7000-8000 for domestic students and $38,000 for international students…Unlike seniors and youth ages 13 to 19, students over the age of 19 are not eligible for discounted single Toronto Transit Commission fares. While university and college students who are enrolled full-time could receive a discount through the existing Post-Secondary Metropass, it is too expensive for many students

King Street is a significant east-west corridor in the Downtown, serving the largest concentration of jobs in the entire country. The neighbourhoods along King Street have experienced tremendous growth in the past ten years, and will continue to grow in the future. King Street is also a key destination for culture, heritage, entertainment, and retail. The 504 King streetcar is the busiest surface transit corridor in the entire city and now moves more than 84,000 riders on an average weekday

In July 2017, City Council authorized the implementation of the proposed King Street Transit Pilot between Bathurst Street and Jarvis Street with a goal of improving transit reliability, speed, and capacity on the busiest surface transit route in the city…[Furthermore], the King Street Transit Pilot was launched on November 12, 2017 and includes a robust monitoring and evaluation program. A wide range of data was collected both before and during the pilot to assess the impacts and benefits and inform the final evaluation for Council's consideration.