August 13, 2007
Rockin' the Suburbs
The CBC is reporting that the provincial government announced an ambitious new project today to revamp Kipling Station and turn it into a major transit hub for Etobicoke and Mississauga. The announcement came from Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield and Environment Minister Laurel Broten early this afternoon.
The new station, which will be owned and operated by GO Transit, is set to have an inter-regional bus terminal and will connect Mississauga Transit and GO buses with TTC and GO trains. The station revamps are targeted at encouraging suburban families to use transit to get in and out of the city and are scheduled to be completed in 2010. Not unlike Finch Station, which serves thousands of commuters from the northern suburbs, the project includes the addition of more passenger pick-up areas,
This pre-election initiative is meant to be seen as an eco-friendly move by the provincial Liberals, another attempt to improve the party's eco-cred. The new Kipling Station is going to be LEED certified and built with renewable construction materials. The money for the project isn't coming from the city at all—$30 million over three years is coming from the province and $5.5 million is coming from Mississauga. The move is also an attempt by the Liberals to woo western Toronto and Mississauga ridings; in the Iast election they won numerous ridings by a slim margin, so targeting suburban families is a move that may help sway voters in Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, and Etobicoke towards voting Liberal in October.
Considering the recent troubles that the TTC has been facing, we're a little conflicted. On the one hand, this should help encourage suburban commuters to leave their cars at home, and the project itself won't cost the city anything. On the other hand, a new influx of suburbanites using the TTC to get into the city will further tax the system and add to operations costs. The Liberals keep on pledging money to environmental cause, but why not put some money towards TTC operating costs to help alleviate the TTC's own budget crisis? Toronto's own station-renovation plans have been put on hold because of the lack of funds. From our recent interview with TTC Chair Adam Giambrone, it's pretty obvious that the TTC is in need of some provincial cash.
The election is still months away. We'll soon see what else the government—and every other party—has to bring to the transit table.
Photo by inventor_77 from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
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Here's the biggest question about this reno - will GO train customers be able to use Kipling during a TTC strike? If not, waste of money. If so, bring it on.
The more the merrier, I say.
If you live outside of Toronto you just can't win. Drive here and you are using "our" roads; come by transit and you are taxing "our" system. Can't we all get along?
I notice the press release doesn't say which level of LEED certification the new station will receive. Anything less than Gold is inadequate, and even Gold isn't the highest standard.
In other news, thanks for getting Ben Folds stuck in my head. That's not going away any time soon...
Why would this project help sway voters in Etobicoke? They won't be using it.
Some Etobicokers would no doubt find this useful.
First you must realize that Etobicoke extends all the way west to hwy.427 and surprisingly to some, including myself until recently, all of the way north to Toronto's northern border at Steeles Avenue.
A friend of mine who recently returned to Toronto told me one week that he was living in Etobicoke.
I said "Oh, I was thinking of moving out there myself", thinking of more affordable real estate, and the lake.
Then the next week said he said was living right near the airport.
I said "You moved again??" and he said "No -- same place".
So I checked the map and whaddaya know, it's true.
So it seems understandable that those living in Etobicoke just might find this facility to be useful. (I THINK I've seen GO buses on the 427)
As far as understanding why my friend would live where he does? He's a commercial pilot now, so I guess it makes sense. He can visit me downtown.
Hmm. As far as I can see, the plan does _not_ include multi-deck parking garages, which would help divert additional traffic from the downtown. Oh wait! That's a Toronto municipal or TTC responsibility. Darn.
Kind of important, as that opportunity is rapidly being lost at Islington and there aren't too many other places to put one on the western end of the Bloor-Danforth line.