We agree that Scarborough residents are priced out of walkable, transit-oriented neighbourhoods. Which is exactly why we support an LRT network.

This post was written by Scarborough Committee member Shaun Cleaver.

In today's Toronto Star, Professor Margaret Kohn has written an opinion piece that a subway is only "fair" for Scarborough.

We agree with much of what Professor Kohn has written. We especially agree with this statement:

"Low-income people who cannot afford car ownership are priced out of walkable, transit-oriented neighbourhoods and forced to live in less dense, peripheral areas."

Yes. Exactly. So let's intensify the peripheral areas in ways that they stay affordable. Let's increase transit to these areas, which is precisely why the Scarborough Subway Extension is a bad investment. We shouldn't keep the periphery in a transit-hostile, low-density form, while expecting people in high-density areas to pay for it. We shouldn't watch overcrowded transit vehicles strand riders, with no other options, in the cold. We shouldn't frame transit as a war between "Scarborough" and "downtown." Nobody wins a war, and the biggest loser of this fight has been people who want to get around by transit.

We should support a transit network that is frequent, reliable, prioritized and oriented towards moving people inside of Scarborough. A transit network for Scarborough residents to get around Scarborough. That's what why we support a robust network of light rail lines with 47 stops.

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