VAUGHAN, ONT. — Planning for the Ontario Line in Toronto should continue even though transit ridership has declined as a result of COVID-19, two veteran transportation planners stated in the latest podcast produced by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO).
The podcast, called Focus on Transit, features David Crowley, a transportation planner who spent seven years in senior planning positions with the Toronto Transit Commission, in conversation with transportation planner Ed Levy, a civil engineer and author of Rapid Transit in Toronto: A Century of Plans, Projects, Politics and Paralysis.
It is the sixth instalment in a nine-part series developed by the RCCAO aimed at raising awareness about issues affecting the construction industry. The podcast was released Aug. 3.
Levy said he’s concerned that the decline in ridership due to COVID-19 will give politicians an excuse to save money by deferring the relief line. After years of planning this would be a big mistake.
“I think we’ve got to complete the network,” said Levy. “There is no other way of serving the mixed-use downtown that we’re beginning to get. But the outer area also needs to have much better non-subway-type transit focused on certain major hubs.”
The podcasts are hosted by Dave Trafford, a broadcaster with Newstalk 1010 in Toronto. Three more podcasts are scheduled to be released on Mondays over the coming weeks.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed