IT 'STIME TO RE-THINK, RE-URBANIZE AND RE-RAIL

OUR NEIGHBOURHOODS, OUR MUNICIPALITIES

AND OUR PROVINCE(S)

THE FOLLOWING IS A PLAN FOR A  REGION

 CALLED

THE METAPOLIS OF TORONTARIO

THE CURRENT PROVINCE OF ONTARIO

THIS IS THE OFFICIAL PLAN

 

Making Toronto the Good… T0R0NTARI0 the Best

A Plan for the Reurbanization of Canada’s Urban Realm 


by samuel s bornstein
http://www.stime.com

http://www.stime.ca


Introduction 

Many studies have been done by various levels of government  concerning comprehensive approaches to urban planning, or as it is known by planners, reurbanization. 

These studies and official plans conclude that the optimum urban structure contains mainstreets and small nodal concentrations well served by transit.

Unfortunately, in many of these studies, land use planning and transit planning have not been integrated. In particular, one area that all of these studies and official plans have
failed to address is the full potential of the thousands of miles/kilometres of railway rights-of-way, which are now heavy rail with diesel locomotives. 



In the past, heavy rail lines served industries along their paths throughout Canada. This is no longer the case. For example, the former North Toronto Rail Corridor, now the
main CPR line in Toronto, carries freight through the city without making any stops. Along this line are hundreds of hectares of abandoned industrial sites, which sit, idle.


(This is also the line on which the Mississauga rail disaster and the 1995 derailment occurred.) The heavy rail rights-of-way also pass several obsolete or underutilized
industrial sites such as the Ontario StockYards and the large Downsview area (currently under redevelopment planning). The Toronto Waterfront site and the downtown railway lands
are prime examples of projects where integrated transit and urban planning are essential. 

This plan incorporates transit planning into an integrated strategy for the reurbanization  by proposing that:

all existing rights-of-way be converted to free  public transit  use and 

adjoining lands at all points along the railway lines be developed into intensified, integrated live/work neighbourhoods served by the new free transit system and linked to existing transit routes, (also free) 

The plan promotes efficient land use, main-street development, compact live/work/play
communities, and reduced auto dependence, all of which have been recognized by numerous urban studies as main goals for reurbanization. 

The vision: a transportation plan/land use plan

The transportation plan is a comprehensive blueprint for reurbanization, at the basis of which is a new free light rapid transit system inspiring all other facets of the urban design.


 Essentially the vision is that of  long, densely populated, central arteries connecting neighbourhoods unencumbered by automobiles or barriers – new east-west-north-south  main streets:  without cars, without traffic lights , without gridlock. 

 The rights-of-way running through Toronto continue to Burlington, the Halton Region,
Brampton, Oshawa, and other municipalities. These rights-of-way become free transit links to and from Toronto.   this proposal could expands throughout the province,
then through the country to other cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Sherbrooke, Montreal, and their outlying regions. Toronto becomes the model for a whole new urban form, one that could vastly improve cities around the country. Other countries would also begin to look towards Canada, and Toronto in particular, as models for implementing similar proposals. 

 Benefits of the Light Transit System 

Balance, comprehensiveness, and modal choice 

Balance, comprehensiveness, and modal choice have often been stated as goals in developing a transportation plan for Toronto. By converting the existing freight rail system into
passenger transit, these goals are accomplished. The light transit system will be able to connect to existing subway, bus and train routes, creating a rapid transit network that
reaches every part of the city... and beyond. 

The vehicles of this reliable, convenient and frequent and free transportation system will be designed to travel at variable speeds relative to the surroundings and will be powered by conventional buses initially and followed by a fleet of zero emission
non-polluting engines such as the Ballard Fuel Cell . 

The design of the vehicles of the new light transit system would take passenger needs into account. It would be accessible to wheelchairs, strollers, bicycles, shopping
carts.



The present rail rights-of-way run throughout every municipality in the Province.

 Almost 90% of the entire City of Toronto's population lives within 2 km of a right-of-way.



Toronto the Best: Benefits for the Community

While a light transit system carries many inherent advantages over other existing mass transit systems, the main thrust of this proposal is the system’s positive impact on the
future development of the urban community. By encouraging better and more efficient land use, increased urban density, reduced auto dependence, urban
redevelopment, and economic growth, the new light transit system is the centrepiece of a wider strategy of reurbanization.


Increased Density

The elimination of low-density sprawl is a very important goal for reurbanization. Because of the enormous amount of housing that would be created along with this new free transit system, the trend of constantly expanding outside of the city limits could be controlled. Affordable housing, with the costs reflecting the surrounding community, could be made available along the light transit system as well, either in a variety of low and medium density condominium buildings or in apartments above the shops lining the new main streets, eliminating the loss of prime quality farmland throughout this entire region. 

Reduced Automobile Dependence 

Thanks to the proximity of the railway rights-of-way to such a high percentage of the  population and to the comprehensiveness of the proposed system, more and more
people would be encouraged to use free public transit rather than the automobile. The new free transit system would be able to bring passengers to all the major work, tourism, and
transportation centres around the city. Examples include the downtown core, the Trade Centre, Harbourfront, Pearson Airport, the Toronto Zoo, Fort York, Casa Loma, the
Science Centre, Union Station, and presently abandoned or underused sites to be developed in the future. 

Furthermore, reports have indicated that on average, one third of a city’s total land area is devoted to car infrastructure: roads, parking lots, service stations, etc. The parking
lots, especially, represent inefficient and wasteful uses of land. With decreasing auto use, much of this land could be redeveloped. Buildings could face out onto the street, and more greenery could be planted to make the sites healthier and more attractive living spaces. This would make the city much more "pedestrian-friendly". Walking and cycling paths all along the system would encourage these other alternatives. Finally, with so much opportunity for new businesses/employment and available housing along the transit system, a large number of people would be able to live and work within the same community. 

Urban Renewal/Redevelopment

Converting unattractive and potentially hazardous freight rail into light transit would allow for the removal of safety zones on either side of the railways tracks, and, hence, the connection of neighbourhoods, as communities once cut off by barbed wire and freight trains, could be rejoined. Along with the new light transit system (which would operate on its own right-of-way), walking and cycling paths are incorporated . Live/work buildings could be built along the entire system, with stores and small businesses at ground level and residences or offices above, and further landscaping could enhance the neighbourhoods. Furthermore, the proposal would extend and reinforce the city’s existing infrastructure, ensuring a much stronger base for the urban area for the long-term.

Economic Growth 

This plan would without doubt help improve the economy by creating both jobs and new opportunities. The underutilized industrial or "brown" sites along the rights-of-way
provide more than enough land for new urban centres, whether they are focused on entertainment, shopping, or services. All along the corridor of the new free transit system is
opportunity for retail stores and small businesses to open up, creating jobs for skilled craftspeople and turning the rights-of-way into vibrant main streets. Furthermore, the
intensification called for by the plan provides a larger tax base to ensure that the newly created living environments stay healthy and well supported.

 Canadian National and Canadian Pacific

This proposal offers several favourable outcomes for the railway companies. First, if freight lines are moved north of the city to a new rail corridor along the Hwy.
407, current restrictions on the permissible number of trains, types of goods, and speeds at which trains can travel (currently 40 km/hr. for special dangerous goods and up to
80 km/hr. for regular cargo) could be lessened or even eliminated. 

 CN and CP have to deal frequently with complaints from residents, associations, and committees over all kinds of problems: air pollution, idling, dangerous speeds, noise from the horns and rumblings, running during the night, even ground vibrations. Moving the freight lines outside of the city would obviously result in fewer complaints. 

Thirdly, in the event of an accident, the damage and compensation to residents would be not nearly as costly outside the urban area as within a dense urban community. 

Moving the freight trains to the north would only facilitate operations. In the GTA area only two rail lines actually remain very active with freight traffic: the CN line
north of Steeles and the CP line in the North Toronto Rail Corridor. A large part of the traffic now instead makes use of the intermodal terminals located along Highway 407. A new shared freight rail corridor could be built along  Highway 407, which also becomes a truck freight corridor. 

This document has put forward a bold proposal to completely change the face of the city of Toronto and the entire Province of 0ntario.

 The conversion of the railway rights-of-way and reurbanization of
adjoining lands will certainly require the co-operation and commitment among all levels of government, the private sector, the railway companies currently owning the
rights-of-way, and the general public. However, the implementation of this plan would stimulate the economy in the form of new jobs and opportunities. It would improve the
environment by reducing auto dependence and protecting valuable farmland and countryside. It would also create vibrant and affordable new communities create live/work
environments, promote walking, cycling, and the use of transit, as well as redevelop existing infrastructure. Urban studies have already identified all of these as objectives and
guidelines for the reurbanization of Toronto. It’s time to carry them out with a new urban plan. It’s time to create a new urban form that fulfils all of these goals.

 

We can pay for this system and have a no-fare (free) transit system by paying 3 cents a litre at the pumps that is matched by the other levels of government from their general revenues

By having a pre-paid system,  transportation commissions would save hundreds of millions of dollars, no tickets, no tokens, no transfers, in Toronto it costs the TTC over a dollar to collect a ticket.

 The privitization or joint venture of free transit is possible, enabling a company to provide a pre-determined level of service to a Region, as well as the ability to design, build, operate and maintain  other transit systems  worldwide.

Public Health, Public Education, Public Transit



It’s time to make Toronto the good…TORONTARIO the best.

 

NEW WARDS MAPS AND INFO

CLICK ON A PIECE AND SEE 

 

ward_map.gif (37133 bytes)
Toronto

click here to view the potential

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







Making Toronto the Good… T0R0NTARI0 the Best

A Plan for the Reurbanization of Canada’s Urban Realm 


by samuel s bornstein
http://www.stime.com

http://www.stime.ca

ORIGINAL VERSION 1994






Introduction 

Many studies have been done by various levels of government  concerning comprehensive approaches to urban planning, or as it is known by
planners, reurbanization. 

These studies and official plans conclude that the optimum urban structure contains mainstreets and small nodal concentrations well served by
transit.

Unfortunately, in many of these studies, land use planning and transit planning have not been integrated. In particular, one area that all of these studies and official plans have
failed to address is the full potential of the thousands of miles/kilometres of railway rights-of-way, which are now heavy rail with diesel locomotives. 



In the past, heavy rail lines served industries along their paths throughout Canada. This is no longer the case. For example, the former North Toronto Rail Corridor, now the
main CPR line in Toronto, carries freight through the city without making any stops. Along this line are hundreds of hectares of abandoned industrial sites, which sit, idle.
(This is also the line on which the Mississauga rail disaster and the 1995 derailment occurred.) The heavy rail rights-of-way also pass several obsolete or underutilized
industrial sites such as the Ontario StockYards and the large Downsview area (currently under redevelopment planning). The Toronto Waterfront site and the downtown railway lands
are prime examples of projects where integrated transit and urban planning are essential. 

This plan incorporates transit planning into an integrated strategy for the reurbanization  by proposing that:

existing rights-of-way be converted into new light passenger transit for use by the general population

adjoining lands at all points along the railway lines be developed into intensified, integrated live/work neighbourhoods served by the new transit system and linked to existing transit routes. 

The plan promotes efficient land use, main-street development, compact live/work/play
communities, and reduced auto dependence, all of which have been recognized by numerous urban studies as main goals for reurbanization. 

The vision: a transportation plan/land use plan

The transportation plan is a comprehensive blueprint for reurbanization, at the basis of which is a new light rapid transit system inspiring all other facets of the urban design,
such as the environment, building codes, landscaping, zoning, pedestrian and alternative vehicle passageways, and traffic flow. Essentially the vision is that of a long, densely
populated, central artery connecting neighbourhoods unencumbered by automobiles or barriers – new east-west main streets  without cars, without traffic lights , without gridlock. 

 The rights-of-way running through Toronto continue to Burlington, the Halton Region,
Brampton, Oshawa, and other municipalities. These rights-of-way become transit links to and from Toronto. In the future, this proposal could expand throughout the province,
then through the country to other cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Sherbrooke, Montreal, and their outlying regions. Toronto could become the model for a whole new urban form, one that could vastly improve cities around the country. Other countries would also begin to look towards Canada, and Toronto in particular, as models for implementing similar proposals. 

A Better Way: Benefits of the Light Transit System 

Balance, comprehensiveness, and modal choice 

Balance, comprehensiveness, and modal choice have often been stated as goals in developing a transportation plan for Toronto. By converting the freight rail system into
passenger transit, these goals are accomplished. The light transit system will be able to connect to existing subway, bus and train routes, creating a rapid transit network that
reaches every part of the city. 

The vehicles of this reliable, convenient and frequent transportation system will be designed to travel at variable speeds relative to the surroundings and will be powered by conventional buses initially and followed by a fleet of zero emission
non-polluting engines such as the Ballard Fuel Cell . 

The design of the vehicles of the new light transit system would take passenger needs into account. It would be accessible to wheelchairs, strollers, bicycles, shopping
carts.



The present rail rights-of-way run throughout every municipality in the Province.

 Almost 90% of the entire City of Toronto's population lives within 2 km of a right-of-way.

 
 




Toronto the Best: Benefits for the Community

While a light transit system carries many inherent advantages over other existing mass transit systems, the main thrust of this proposal is the system’s positive impact on the
future development of the urban community. By encouraging better and more efficient land use, increased urban density, reduced auto dependence, urban
redevelopment, and economic growth, the new light transit system is the centrepiece of a wider strategy of reurbanization.


Increased Density

The elimination of low-density sprawl is a very important goal for reurbanization. Because of the enormous amount of housing that would be created along with this new transit system, the trend of constantly expanding outside of the city limits could be controlled. Affordable housing, with the costs reflecting the surrounding community, could be made available along the light transit system as well, either in a variety of low and medium density condominium buildings or in apartments above the shops lining the new main streets, eliminating the loss of prime quality farmland throughout this entire region. 

Reduced Automobile Dependence 

Thanks to the proximity of the railway rights-of-way to such a high percentage of the  population and to the comprehensiveness of the proposed system, more and more
people would be encouraged to use public transit rather than the automobile. The new transit system would be able to bring passengers to all the major work, tourism, and
transportation centres around the city. Examples include the downtown core, the Trade Centre, Harbourfront, Pearson Airport, the Toronto Zoo, Fort York, Casa Loma, the
Science Centre, Union Station, and presently abandoned or underused sites to be developed in the future. 

Furthermore, reports have indicated that on average, one third of a city’s total land area is devoted to car infrastructure: roads, parking lots, service stations, etc. The parking
lots, especially, represent inefficient and wasteful uses of land. With decreasing auto use, much of this land could be redeveloped. Buildings could face out onto the street, and more greenery could be planted to make the sites healthier and more attractive living spaces. This would make the city much more "pedestrian-friendly". Walking and cycling paths all along the system would encourage these other alternatives. Finally, with so much opportunity for new businesses/employment and available housing along the transit system, a large number of people would be able to live and work within the same community. 

Urban Renewal/Redevelopment

Converting unattractive and potentially hazardous freight rail into light transit would allow for the removal of safety zones on either side of the railways tracks, and, hence, the connection of neighbourhoods, as communities once cut off by barbed wire and freight trains could be rejoined. Along the new light transit system (which would operate on its own right-of-way), walking and cycling paths could be created. Live/work buildings could be built along the entire system, with stores and small businesses at ground level and residences or offices above, and further landscaping could enhance the neighbourhoods. Furthermore, the proposal would extend and reinforce the city’s existing infrastructure, ensuring a much stronger base for the urban area for the long-term future. 

Economic Growth 

This plan would without doubt help improve the economy by creating both jobs and new opportunities. The underutilized industrial or "brown" sites along the rights-of-way
provide more than enough land for new urban centres, whether they are focused on entertainment, shopping, or services. All along the corridor of the new transit system is
opportunity for retail stores and small businesses to open up, creating jobs for skilled craftspeople and turning the rights-of-way into vibrant main streets. Furthermore, the
intensification called for by the plan provides a larger tax base to ensure that the newly created living environments stay healthy and well supported.

 Canadian National and Canadian Pacific

This proposal offers several favourable outcomes for the railway companies. First, if freight lines are moved north of the city to a new rail corridor along the Hwy.
407, current restrictions on the permissible number of trains, types of goods, and speeds at which trains can travel (currently 40 km/hr. for special dangerous goods and up to
80 km/hr. for regular cargo) could be lessened or even eliminated. 

 CN and CP have to deal frequently with complaints from residents, associations, and committees over all kinds of problems: air pollution, idling, dangerous speeds, noise from the horns and rumblings, running during the night, even ground vibrations. Moving the freight lines outside of the city would obviously result in fewer complaints. 

Thirdly, in the event of an accident, the damage and compensation to residents would be not nearly as costly outside the urban area as within a dense urban community. 

Moving the freight trains to the north would only facilitate operations. In the GTA area only two rail lines actually remain very active with freight traffic: the CN line
north of Steeles and the CP line in the North Toronto Rail Corridor. A large part of the traffic now instead makes use of the intermodal terminals located along Highway 407. A new shared freight rail corridor could be built along  Highway 407, which also becomes a truck freight corridor. 

This document has put forward a bold proposal to completely change the face of the city of Toronto and the entire Province of 0ntario.

 The conversion of the railway rights-of-way and reurbanization of
adjoining lands will certainly require the co-operation and commitment among all levels of government, the private sector, the railway companies currently owning the
rights-of-way, and the general public. However, the implementation of this plan would stimulate the economy in the form of new jobs and opportunities. It would improve the
environment by reducing auto dependence and protecting valuable farmland and countryside. It would also create vibrant and affordable new communities create live/work
environments, promote walking, cycling, and the use of transit, as well as redevelop existing infrastructure. Urban studies have already identified all of these as objectives and
guidelines for the reurbanization of Toronto. It’s time to carry them out with a new urban plan. It’s time to create a new urban form that fulfils all of these goals.

We can pay for this system and have a no-fare (free) transit system by paying 3 cents a litre at the pumps that is matched by the other levels of government.

By having a pre-paid system, the privitization or joint venture of transit is possible, enabling a company to provide a pre-determined level of service to a Region, as well as the ability to design, build, operate and maintain  other transit systems  worldwide.



It’s time to make Toronto the good…Toronto the best.