SOS news

Throughout the recent history of Toronto, transit plans have been created, started, and then thrown out in favour of something else. The end result is that only a small fraction of the original plan ever gets built. This cycle needs to stop.

This is why SOS has decided to support various elements of Transit City. But it must be stressed that we do not endorse the plan as a whole, and we would still like to see changes made to the plan in order to make it more efficient. Below is a brief summary of each of the 4 Transit City lines, as well as other projects, and our position on them.

• Eglinton LRT
• Scarborough LRT
• Finch West LRT
• Sheppard East LRT
• The Downtown Relief Line
• Expansion of GO Transit

Since the creation of Save Our Subways (SOS) in 2009, much has changed. The transit projects that make up Transit City are much further along, there is a new Mayor in Toronto, and the Provincial Government is about to enter a new era of austerity.

As a result, SOS has needed to change its mandate somewhat. While we are still committed to demanding high quality rapid transit for all Torontonians, some realities must be faced.

Stay tuned for further updates and news.

Please Note: This group pre-dates the SOS Group founded by Councillor Doug Ford, and we do not have any connection with him, nor do we share his vision entirely. The similarity in name is purely coincidental.

In light of Queen's Park's recent decision to reduce Provincial funding for transit, the Save Our Subways Coalition has had to make changes to it's initial proposal, in order to accurately reflect the current political realities. We realize that city-wide transit expansion is no longer politically feasible.

As a result, we have created a separate version of Move Toronto, one that we have dubbed "The Backbone Plan". The purpose of this plan is to outline the subway projects that are of the highest priority to the City of Toronto, with the hope that the funds remaining for the construction of Transit City will be diverted to these 4 projects. These projects, if completed, would form a solid backbone of true higher-order transit that could more easily support future transit expansion in the GTA.

This plan is by no means the complete solution for the GTA, rather it is merely an attempt to 'catch up' to where transit in the GTA should be. With the new limits on transit funding that have been imposed by the Province, Toronto now more than ever, needs a reliable backbone network of subway lines upon which to build an even stronger transit network. None of the proposed lines in this "Backbone Plan" are new by any means. They have all been proposed in various forms before, with most of them having already been extensively studied. We believe that because of this fact, these projects can be fast-tracked, with construction beginning as soon as possible.

Transit expansion in Toronto has already gone by the wayside once in this generation, we cannot afford to let that happen again.

Move Toronto - Proposal for the future of transit in the GTA.

The Move Toronto plan is designed to take advantage of various modes of transit in order to move people effectively throughout Toronto. We realize that the subway network is the backbone of any municipal transit network, and that the backbone in Toronto is currently insufficient.

The Move Toronto plan, designed by the Save Our Subways Coalition, outlines an alternative, cost-neutral vision to Transit City. Rather than having LRT lines designed to transport passengers across Toronto, Move Toronto has proposed additions to Toronto’s subway network, with BRT and BRT Light lines delivering efficient, reliable, and cost-effective service to those without direct walking access to the subway network.

We believe that our vision for transit in Toronto is more dynamic, more versatile, more cost-effective, and a better long-term solution for transit. The investment in subway infrastructure that this plan proposes will be useful well into the next century. In addition, the relative little capital cost of the BRT and BRT Light network is adaptable, and upgradable to full BRT, LRT, or subway should future need present itself.

Toronto deserves a plan that will serve it’s transit needs for decades to come. Toronto deserves Move Toronto.

The Move Toronto plan is available for downloading from our Documents section.