Don’t Leave Scarborough Residents on the Bus: It’s Finally Time to Move Forward with the Light Rapid Transit Plan That Will Provide More Service, for Fewer Dollars, and Can Be Up and Running Sooner - by Councillor Josh Matlow, seconded by Councillor Paul Ainslie

The Environmental Assessment for the 3-stop subway has not been completed and the Province has yet to fully fund the project. This month saw the worst outcome for Scarborough transit users as it was announced that the SRT will have to be shut down prior to the subway being built. The false promise of subways, subways, subways has been broken by the reality of buses. The unfortunate revelation that Scarborough residents will be left on the bus for a number of years while waiting for a subway to open in 2030 at the earliest, removes one of the central arguments for pro-subway proponents. It was argued that the subway was a better option as the SRT would be able to continue operating during construction, while Light Rapid Transit construction would require the line to shut down as they operate within the same, traffic-separated, corridor. That argument no longer stands. Further, the LRT could be constructed faster given that the Light Rapid Transit has a completed Environmental Assessment, and would not require tunneling. Conservative construction timelines provided by the Toronto Transit Commission in 2016 estimated that the Light Rapid Transit would take 3.5-5 years to build. It was also announced this month that the costs had ballooned for the Eglinton East Light Rapid Transit to Malvern to over $4 billion- putting it out of reach for the City to construct in the near term. This Motion requests the Province of Ontario to build more transit sooner by moving forward now with the 7-stop Light Rapid Transit, through Scarborough Town Centre to Sheppard, and use the funds saved by switching from the subway to support the Eglinton East Light Rapid Transit to Malvern to ensure that rapid transit is provided to Scarborough residents. It's never too late to make the right decision.