Poll Position: Toronto Split on Transit Options

Survey puts the lie to Rob Ford's claim that a majority of Torontonians back his transit vision.

By Hamutal Dotan

Yesterday, Toronto City Council voted 25 to 18 to reverse Mayor Rob Ford’s plan to focus transit spending on two new subways, and instead to put the money into building at least three above-ground light rail lines in different parts of the city. Given what you have seen, or read, or heard, do you think that City Council has made the right decision or the wrong decision?

Right decision: 43.2%

Wrong decision: 42.8%

Not sure: 14%

Right decision, by area—

Toronto-East York: 52.5%

Etobicoke: 39.7%

North York: 38%

Scarborough: 32.9%

NOTES: It is unfortunate that this poll—the only recent one we have on Torontonians’ transit views—contains a major error. As per the question above, after last week’s special council meeting residents were asked whether they backed councillors’ decision to overturn Rob Ford’s transit plan. In contrast to that question, however, Ford’s transit plan does not call for two subway lines, but rather for one subway line on Sheppard and one buried LRT line on Eglinton.

On the upside, at least we know that this is the most support Rob Ford is likely to ever get for that transit plan: even when upgraded to two subway lines, it’s still a minority. The actual plan is likely to be attractive to fewer people. The mayor has promised to start a “Save Our Subways” campaign, which hopes to build enough support for subways among residents and that those residents in turn pressure the provincial government into ignorning council’s decision. Given that there was only ever one subway to begin with, and that there was never actually a costed-out plan for building it, it’s not clear that the rescue mission would do much more than delay building any transit at all. In the meantime, Ford opponents now have something to point to every time he says that a strong majority of Torontonians support his transit vision and a referrendum on subways would give him a slam-dunk win.