transportation

Wednesday October 2, 2024

Doug Ford’s proposal to build a tunnel under the 401 is an impractical, costly distraction that would worsen traffic congestion instead of solving it, diverting attention from more effective solutions like public transit investments.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 2, 2024 (also published in the Toronto Star)

Animated making-of clip here!

Doug Ford’s 401 Tunnel: A Far-Fetched Fantasy That Deserves to Be Shut Down

Political blame games and distractions from leaders like Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford are stalling any real progress on Canada's housing crisis, which requires bold government intervention rather than market-driven tweaks.

September 27, 2024

Premier Doug Ford has once again put forward a grandiose idea, this time proposing a tunnel beneath Highway 401 to address Toronto’s infamous traffic congestion. On paper, it may sound like a bold, out-of-the-box solution. But let’s not kid ourselves — this tunnel plan is nothing more than a fantasy. It should be stopped in its tracks before any serious time, money, or energy is wasted on what would inevitably become Ontario’s most expensive and disruptive boondoggle.

Traffic congestion in and around Toronto is undeniably a major problem. Every day, commuters spend countless hours crawling through the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), their lives eaten away by the city’s overwhelming gridlock. And yes, solutions are desperately needed to tackle this growing crisis. But a 50-kilometre tunnel under one of the busiest highways in North America is not the solution — in fact, it’s a laughable idea.

Globe & Mail Editorial: Doug Ford is driving Ontario down the wrong road

May 12, 2022

Let’s start with the basics. Shutting down the 401, even temporarily, would create a logistical nightmare. This isn’t just a highway — it’s the main artery of Ontario’s road system, carrying millions of vehicles every week. Any construction work, let alone digging a multi-billion-dollar tunnel beneath it, would cause absolute chaos. Traffic would be forced onto already congested side roads and highways, exacerbating an already dire situation. And for what? A project that, even if completed, would likely create more problems than it solves.

The reality is that this tunnel wouldn’t alleviate congestion; it would induce more traffic. It’s simple economics — add more road space, and more cars will come. We’ve seen this happen time and again. From the Gardiner Expressway to the Don Valley Parkway, expanding capacity doesn’t ease traffic; it encourages more drivers to hit the road, creating more gridlock in the long run. This tunnel would do the same, all while bleeding the province of billions of taxpayer dollars.

October 30, 2001

Even if Ford could magically snap his fingers and build the tunnel overnight, it still wouldn’t address the core issue: Toronto’s over-reliance on cars. More cars on more roads won’t solve the problem. What we need are smarter, more sustainable solutions that focus on reducing the number of vehicles on the road, not increasing them.
There are countless alternatives Ford could pursue that don’t involve digging a tunnel beneath the 401. Investing in better public transit, for one, would have a far more meaningful impact. Expanding and modernizing the transit system — projects like the Eglinton East LRT or the Waterfront East LRT — could move thousands of people more efficiently, easing road congestion without the need for more highways. These are real, tangible solutions with existing business cases that simply need funding.

Toronto Star Editorial: Doug Ford’s tunnel fantasy gives politics a bad name

May 30, 2003

Ford could also consider measures like road tolls, congestion pricing, or policies that incentivize fewer cars on the road. These ideas may be less flashy than a massive tunnel, but they are effective. Major cities around the world, from London to Singapore, have seen significant reductions in traffic thanks to congestion pricing. Toronto could follow suit, but that would require serious, hard work — something Ford’s tunnel fantasy allows him to sidestep.

More frustratingly, Ford’s tunnel proposal is a massive distraction from the other pressing issues Ontario faces. While the premier was out selling this fantastical idea, the province’s healthcare system continues to suffer from severe underfunding, hallway medicine persists, and students are stuck in crumbling schools. Housing is increasingly unaffordable, and social services are stretched to their limits. Yet instead of addressing these crises, Ford is focused on selling us a tunnel to nowhere.

At best, Ford’s tunnel plan is a misguided attempt to appeal to voters frustrated by traffic. At worst, it’s a cynical distraction — a shiny object meant to pull focus away from his government’s failures in health, education, housing, and the environment. Either way, this tunnel must never be allowed to leave the drawing board.

Doug Ford may pride himself on being a man of big ideas, but sometimes the biggest ideas are also the worst. And this 401 tunnel is one of the worst. Instead of wasting time and resources on a pipe dream that would lead to more traffic and more problems, Ford should focus on real, actionable solutions that benefit everyone, not just drivers. Let’s hope this tunnel gets buried before it ever gets dug. (AI)

 

Saturday February 1, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 1, 2020

Hamilton transit task force secrecy is an embarrassment

Hamilton LRT Gallery

Whichever side of the Light Rail Transit debate you stand on, you should not be happy or satisfied by the Ford government’s decision to have its transit task force operate behind closed doors. In secret. With no transparency, and no opportunity for the public (or its proxy, the media) to observe the task force at work.

This task force was thrown together by Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney after the province abruptly cancelled Hamilton’s long-planned LRT line, right in the middle of construction bidding.

The purpose of the task force appears to be to lend the optics of objectivity to the process. It’s widely recognized that the math used by the province to justify the decision is fake, and any real cost overruns wouldn’t be out of line with overruns on other similar transit projects that are going ahead, while Hamilton’s got summarily cancelled.

It’s more than a bit odd to have a hand-picked group of non-elected citizens put in place to make decisions on the best future options for public transit in the city. Isn’t that what we have a local government for? That government had a position, which was LRT. So what the province is doing now is putting the opinions of its task force above the stated position of the local government. But never mind. Fair enough. If the task force does a credible job, it will be a worthwhile endeavour.

January 12, 2012

But how will anyone know if it does a credible job given that it is operating in secret? This is absolutely no reflection on the members of the task force. They seem earnest and no doubt trying to do the thing in the public interest. The lack of transparency isn’t their fault, but it’s fair to say their work will be judged differently than if it was taking place in relative sunlight.

Part of what rankles here is the justification for the secrecy. To be fair, this is a government that typically wouldn’t offer any justification for its arbitrary decisions, but in this case, at least a civil servant agreed to address the question of why the task force meetings — there have already been two — must be behind closed doors.

The meetings must remain secret, according to the province, to protect ” commercially sensitive” information like cost estimates, procurement matters or past budgets. Also, the province says, the secrecy will give task force members the freedom to have “open discussion” about prospective options so there is not “a public debate on every single project they may be looking at.”

October 7, 2016

Respectfully, that is an absolutely terrible rationale for shutting out the public and media. City councils and committees regularly go in camera to discuss issues that are legally or financially sensitive. There are provisions for that. To suggest that all the deliberations of the task force should be secret for that reason is — sorry to be blunt — silly.

And to allow task force members to speak freely? They can’t do that in a public forum, like city council does? Like the Ontario legislature does? Is the government really saying that only secrecy can allow for forthright discussion and debate? And does consciously setting out to limit “public debate” a good thing? Is that the sort of democracy the Ford government wants for Ontario?

But don’t worry. The agendas for task force meetings will be made public. After the fact. And the things discussed will eventually be summarized for public consumption.

So calm down and don’t fret. The government knows what’s best for you. Just sit back and relax. All will be known in the fullness of time. You can trust Doug Ford and friends, right? (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Tuesday January 21, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 21, 2020

GO Transit expansion turning out to be a bumpy ride

It is too early to say GO Transit’s planned expansion might be coming off the rails. But it’s not too early to worry about whether the timing and the scope of the expansion could be in doubt.

December 21, 2019

The GO Expansion plan is intended to transform what is essentially a commuter railway into an all-day, two-way transit network with service as frequent as every 15 minutes in core areas. When fully rolled out the expansion could boost ridership from current levels of about 70 million to 200 million by 2055. It also involves electrification of core parts of the transit network.

According to documents obtained by our sister paper, The Toronto Star, provincial transit agency Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario (the agency responsible for delivering major public infrastructure projects) are being compelled to reconsider how the procurement process for the expansion is working. Companies in charge of executing the expansion are raising concerns about how the province is contracting out the work, and the amount of risk private sector bidders are being asked to assume through the public-private partnership model being employed.

September 25, 2008

The leaked documents also warn that changing procurement procedures at this point could delay the final phase of the expansion which is supposed to be complete by 2025.

Obviously, this is a big deal for the GTA which is still the heartland of GO Transit, but the threat of delays should also concern more peripheral areas such as Hamilton, Niagara, Waterloo Region and Peterborough, all targets for commuters fleeing GTA prices and congestion.

What, if any, impact will the procurement concerns have on the scope and timing of the project? We don’t know, because GO and Infrastructure Ontario aren’t saying, but it is telling that Infrastructure Ontario would not confirm whether the final phase will be completed as planned and on time. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Thursday November 29, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 29, 2018

A global shift toward electric vehicles is well underway, experts say

When General Motors cited plans to pivot toward electric and autonomous vehicle production as a key reason it had decided to mothball its Oshawa assembly plant, the company was talking about a future that many Canadians didn’t recognize.

August 4, 2017

But experts say the auto industry’s seismic shift away from the traditional internal combustion engine is already well underway.

“Pretty much every manufacturer’s making some decision and financial commitment to what the vehicle of the future is going to look like,” said David Adams, president and CEO of Global Automakers of Canada, an umbrella industry association that represents BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, and Volkswagen.

“Our members, all of them look at … decarbonized transportation as what the future is going to be.”

In a news release Monday, GM said it would cease current operations in Oshawa, as well as four plants in the U.S., by the end of 2019. The company said the decision would save it $6 billion, and enable it to double investment in its electric and autonomous vehicle programs in the next two years.

July 17, 2009

According to Adams full automation of vehicles is likely still “decades away.”

But electric vehicles — either battery electric or plug-in hybrids — make up a small but rapidly growing share of the market. As of December, 1.4 per cent of all vehicles sold in Canada were electric, according to FleetCarma, a technology consultant firm, and there were just under 50,000 of the vehicles on Canada’s roads.

However, the number of electric vehicles sold last year increased 68 per cent compared to the year before. The 18,560 plug-in vehicles that drivers bought in 2017 represented a fivefold increase compared to sales in 2013.

The GM-made Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid, was the hottest seller in Canada last year, followed by the Chevrolet Bolt, a battery electric vehicle. GM announced this week it would discontinue the Volt as the company prioritizes battery electric vehicles. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

Wednesday January 18, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 18, 2017

Funds must double to keep Hamilton roads at ‘C’ level: report

The city needs to double asphalt repair spending over the next decade just to keep increasingly rutted roads in fair shape, a new analysis shows.

As it is, municipal road conditions — particularly neighbourhood streets and urban collectors — are deteriorating steadily because the city budget isn’t keeping up with needed repairs, says public works head Dan McKinnon.

“We’re not sustainable … We know the overall condition rating is going to decline,” McKinnon said during a presentation to councillors on the city’s latest road condition analysis.

That report suggests Hamilton must spend about $521 million on repairs and reconstruction over the next 10 years just to hold the line on existing road conditions. We’re on track to spend only half that amount, with about $25.5-million slated to be directed to such repairs in 2017.

The city actually spends closer to $80 million a year on all things roads-related — but that includes bridges, sidewalks and street lights, traffic engineering, technical studies and construction related to new development. 

The city bases its latest dire prediction on a roads condition index calculated with the help of a consultant who used ground-penetrating laser technology and visual inspections to evaluate all municipal roads block by block.

Based on the latest study, the city has awarded itself a “C” grade for roads — defined as “fair with some deterioration or defects evident” — or an average condition index of 62.

The “optimum” target condition index for roads is 81. While the city’s two parkways are close to that target level of driveability, residential streets and urban collectors have an average condition index closer to 58.

The latest public report doesn’t finger particularly bad roads or neighbourhoods, but a photo presentation to councillors used a spiderweb-cracked section of Chapple Street in Stoney Creek to illustrate a road in need of a rebuild. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

Doubled Published – Oopsie.

Published in the Western Star, Corner Brook, Newfoundland – January 

Published in the Western Star, Corner Brook, Newfoundland – January 20, 2017