Ford’s Transit Plan

The province has announced its 28.5 billion dollar plan to expand public transit in Toronto. It includes a massive relief line through downtown Toronto, but there was no sign of relief for Hamilton commuters hoping for advancements on all-day Go service.

Four separate subway projects, including three extensions to already existing TTC lines: the main attraction, a $10.9-billion Ontario line that will transport over 400,000 people daily from Ontario Place, through downtown Toronto, to the Science Centre.

The Premier feels the investment will help ease the constant gridlock in the province’s biggest and most cramped city, but the sentiment online is that it’s just that: a plan for Toronto.

While the Ministers of Transportation and Infrastructure mentioned Hamilton, the third largest city in Ontario, several times, there was no mention of any new plans to bring all-day go services to the $45-million West Harbour Go Station that sees only a handful of passengers during the 6am hour and is empty the rest of the day.

In the meantime, NDP leader and Hamilton MPP Andrea Horwath is making sure the $1-billion in provincial LRT funding is still on the table once Hamilton City Hall makes its final decision on that project.

$28-billion is a lot of money, but the Premier and the Transportation Minister both said that we shouldn’t expect other services to experience cuts in tomorrow’s budget since they’ll be able to spread the payments across a thirty year span.