College streetcar study to be accelerated

transit

College streetcar study to be accelerated

Infrastructure and Environment Committee approved a motion to speed up a study of transit priority measures on College Street, where streetcars are among the slowest in the world. The motion passed unanimously after Councillor Cole, who has a conflict, recused himself from the vote. The study will examine what improvements are possible when transit gets priority, building on successes already demonstrated on Spadina, Bathurst and Dundas.

adoptedInfrastructure and Environment Committee · Wed, Jul 15You can weigh in

Who did what

Councillor Rachel Chernos Lin (Ward 15, Don Valley West) secondedSeconded the motion

From the floor

“31.9 speeding up the college street car study. This is the one that you have a conflict on. We're introducing that and I think I'll do a recorded vote to introduce it so that deputy mayor is in the clear.”An accountability officer

“It would be great if we could deal with the college street car study letter while he's out of the room. Unless you have questions, unless you have anything. Could we just deal with that then?”An accountability officer

Also in this item

• Toronto streetcars are the slowest in the world, primarily because vehicles are stuck in mixed traffic without appropriate transit priority. Transit priority measures on Spadina, Bathurst and Dundas have already demonstrated considerable improvements are possible.

• More than half of Ward 11 residents do not have private vehicles and depend on transit and active transportation, making College Street a critical transit artery for the ward.

The journey

Wed, Jul 15 · Infrastructure and Environment Committee · adopted

Time to act

You can weigh in

This is a study authorization, not a final design. Residents can depute to future meetings when the study results are brought back to committee or council, or contact their councillor to push for specific transit priority measures such as signal changes and parking restrictions.

Decision

Motion to speed up the College streetcar study approved unanimously, 5-0. The item was introduced and voted on immediately with Councillor Cole recused due to a conflict of interest.

On video

Jump to this item in the meeting video

Why is this story here?

ContainedThis is a decision to accelerate a study of one streetcar line. The study itself is bounded to College Street and will examine transit priority measures. If the study leads to changes, those changes would be substantial, but the motion itself only authorizes the acceleration of the research phase, not the implementation. The motion is genuine and carries weight for the ward, but it does not constrain future councils' ability to act differently once the study is complete.Touches a narrow groupThe study affects residents of Ward 11 who depend on the College streetcar, a real but specific group. However, nothing changes to their commute this week; the motion only orders that staff accelerate a study that is already underway. The effect is indirect: it hastens the production of information that may later inform changes. A future implementation of transit priority measures would be direct and broad, but that is not what is being decided today.

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