Toronto city council voted in favour of a light rail transit plan Wednesday evening, throwing under the bus Mayor Rob Ford's plan to focus on moving more transit underground.
After almost 10 hours of heated debate and three final votes councillors voted 25 to 18 in favour of TTC chair Karen Stintz's plan.
Stintz had called for the special meeting earlier in the week to determine the direction of Toronto's transit system with the intention of reaffirming Transit City – a light rail-based plan shunned by Rob Ford when he was elected mayor in 2010. At stake is some $8 billion in money allocated by the province.
Affirmation of Stintz's plan came hours after councillors rejected Mayor Rob Ford's motion to defer for 30 days a vote on a plan that included building the Eglinton light rail line underground.
The mayor, who is pushing his plan for underground transit, had asked council to consider holding off a decision on the debate for 30 days. However, councillors voted it down in a vote of 19-24.
Ford had asked council to step back and take time to make an informed decision on transit in Toronto. He suggested that council form a fact finding committee and then regroup with the new information.
"I think it was a good day for council and I think what we agreed on is really a common sense compromise that helps make sure we build rapid transit to the most number of people in the city of Toronto," said Stintz.
Stintz circulated a letter to her fellow councillors on Tuesday explaining her rationale. She called for a special committee to review transit on Sheppard Avenue that would report back to a special meeting of council no later than Feb. 21.
Stintz's motion would see light rail lines built along Eglinton Avenue and Finch Avenue West, while replacing the Scarborough Rapid Transit line, while Ford's alternative plan would see the Eglinton light rail line built underground and calls for the construction of a Sheppard subway line using private funds.
Despite the clear message sent by the vote, Ford refused to acknowledge that his plan was dead, noting it was now up to the province to make the ultimate decision.
"The premier, I'm very confident, is going to build subways," he told reporters after the vote. "Technically speaking that whole meeting was irrelevant because it is a provincial project."
Ford promised to scrap the Transit City plans and bury the cross-town transit underground during the 2010 mayoral campaign.
And he warned in a mass email ahead of the key meeting of the consequences of additional above-ground transportation.
Ford said Stintz's plan "would put more tracks on the roads, create traffic chaos and result in years of needless, messy and inconvenient construction." He also urged Torontonians to "let your councillor know why you support underground rapid transit."
Stintz's move was backed by a petition -- signed by 24 councillors -- suggesting that the meeting be held to make a decision on a position for the city's transit future, as requested by the chair of Metrolinx – the province's transportation board.
Metrolinx had requested clarification on Toronto's transit strategy after support waned for Ford's subway plan and a collection of councillors including Stintz began pushing for more of the line to run above ground.
"We've been waiting over a year. When the mayor came into office he said he could produce a plan on Sheppard subway with no public dollars. We as council have been waiting. The people of Toronto have been waiting now for a year," said Coun. Janet Davis who indicated before the final vote that she was in favour of Stintz's plan.
"It is our responsibility now to tell the province of Ontario and Metrolinx how we want the $8.6 billion spent and what we are saying today is that we want that money spent on all four lines to make sure there is rapid transit right across the city."
Ontario's Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli called on Metrolinx to make a quick decision on Toronto's plan.
"Now that Council has endorsed a position, we have asked Metrolinx to consider the impacts on current transit planning and report back to us as quickly as possible," he said in a release.
"As time is of the essence, we look to the Mayor and Council to move forward together and help us build public transit, in accordance with the five principles that reflect the public interest and the mandate given to Metrolinx."
