According to an article in the Toronto Star, Councillors Karen Stintz and Glenn De Baeremaeker are proposing an ambitious transit plan for the city to move forward upon. Unlike other proposals, this one includes a funding component which could generate the funds necessary to bring the proposal from concept to reality. Continue reading
The demand for housing close to transit will increase to the point where the desire to keep urban neighbourhoods stable will buckle under development pressure, while owners of homes in auto-dependent suburbs will be unable to sell their properties due to the high cost of commuting – this great upheaval is what we face if we do nothing as gasoline prices and congestion continue to increase. In my first post about building an integrated transportation network we established the baseline network of today. In this fourth post, we will look to 2020 and analyse the network as it will likely be.
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According to an article published on YorkRegion.com, the bus terminal to be built near Highway 7 and Jane Street on the Spadina subway extension will be named “SmartCentres Terminal – Vaughan Metropolitan Centre” after a deal was reached with the landowner, big-box retail developer SmartCentres. I am not necessarily opposed to selling naming rights to structures given, that it can raise significant capital to offset the cost of the project. But, we need to make sure that adding an appropriate corporate name to a bus terminal or subway station does not cause unnecessary confusion to the travelling public.
Station names should reflect the geographic location of the facility or the landmark riders are likely travelling to, and should be unique within the Greater Golden Horseshoe to eliminate any chance of confusion. In this case, those objectives have not been compromised. However, the subway station is still slated to be named Vaughan Centre by the TTC who is supervising construction and operation. In a previous post, I spoke about Square One in Mississauga. Miway refers to the bus terminal there as “City Centre Terminal”, Brampton Transit refers to the same facility as “Square One”, and GO Transit refers to their terminal across the street as “Square One Terminal”. I feel that riders do not differentiate between these two facilities and the mall itself, and that a single name would help integrate the various transit providers in the eyes of riders. I feel that the same argument applies here, and that the subway station should be named Vaughan Metropolitan Centre to match the bus terminal and Vaughan’s name for the neighbourhood.
As gas prices continue to increase to the point at which the average family will no longer be able to afford to drive their cars, we may see a great upheaval. The demand for housing close to transit will increase to the point where the desire to keep urban neighbourhoods stable will buckle under development pressure. At the same time, owners of homes in auto-dependent suburbs will be unable to sell their properties due to the high cost of commuting. This will not happen overnight, but signs of such a future are visible today. As such, we must change our transportation network to change the way we build and navigate around cities. In this third post about building an integrated transportation network for our region, I will look at a bold, game-changing move that will best integrate the various transit providers operating in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
As gas prices continue to increase to the point at which the average family will no longer be able to afford to drive their cars, we may see a great upheaval. The demand for housing close to transit will increase to the point where the desire to keep urban neighbourhoods stable will buckle under development pressure. At the same time, owners of homes in auto-dependent suburbs will be unable to sell their properties due to the high cost of commuting. This will not happen overnight, but signs of such a future are visible today. As such, we must change our transportation network to change the way we build and navigate around cities. In this second post about building an integrated transportation network for our region, I will look at more drastic changes that will lead to better integration within the regional transportation network. Continue reading
As gas prices continue to increase to the point at which the average family will no longer be able to afford to drive their cars, we may see a great upheaval. The demand for housing close to transit will increase to the point where the desire to keep urban neighbourhoods stable will buckle under development pressure. At the same time, owners of homes in auto-dependent suburbs will be unable to sell their properties due to the high cost of commuting. This will not happen overnight, but signs of such a future are visible today. As such, we must change our transportation network to change the way we build and navigate around cities. In this first post about building an integrated transportation network for our region, I will look at ways we can better integrate the various transit providers operating in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
Continue reading
