The transit file has reared its ugly head yet again.
During Tuesday’s podcast of On the Ledge podcast with Dave Trafford, John Wright and Keith Leslie, they discussed how the Provincial Tories have an opportunity to stake their claim and become a “Legacy Government” on the transportation – namely transit, infrastructure, health care, and education files. Two things stood out for me during the podcast.
First, was the panel’s assumption that the Conservatives, namely Premier Doug Ford, is seemingly amenable to above ground transit technology, aka light rail transit.
Second, with respect to the subway upload, the assertion is that the upload is for the design and build of future subway lines and not existing ones. Dave Trafford confirmed with the Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek this morning on the Moore in the AM radio talk show that the Province, ie Metrolinx, would also include maintenance. Maintenance does take up a considerable chunk out of a transit system’s budget. Therefore, the proposed upload could entail the TTC maintaining and operating the existing network, while only operating the newer systems.