What kind of transit do Scarborough residents deserve? (Part 2)

In Part 1, we discussed a breathtaking new report from a team of researchers at the University of Toronto - Scarborough, led by Andre Sorenson. The report discusses a light rail network in Scarborough, but also makes a special point of noting that the Sheppard East Light Rapid Transit (LRT) line is an infrastructure project that must be built immediately. With 26 stations, the Sheppard East LRT would bring rapid transit to riders from Don Mills to Malvern. This approved, funded rapid transit line will serve far more residents than the subway that some politicians are calling for. A subway along Sheppard East would have very few stops and leave anyone living east of Kennedy without any rapid transit at all.

Sheppard East LRT - A history of flip flops

The Sheppard East LRT is a project that has gone through various flip flops.

YEAR	FLIP FLOP
2009	Construction of the Sheppard East LRT begins.
2010	Construction is cancelled by then Mayor Ford.
2012	The Province announces all LRTs will be run privately delaying construction an additional two years.
2013	The year the Sheppard East LRT would have started providing service to residents in Malvern, if construction had not been cancelled.
2015	Councillors Mammoliti and Karygiannis put forward a motion to replace the Sheppard East LRT with a subway. Councillors Kelly and Cho support the motion.
2015	Councillor Chin Lee tells reporter Mike Adler of the Scarborough Mirror that he would support scrapping the Sheppard LRT ($1B) if it would help finance Smart Track.
2017	Construction for the Sheppard East LRT is scheduled to resume.
2021	New completion date.

It is disgraceful that the transit line would have opened for service in 2013 if political flip flopping hadn’t stalled the project. Scarborough residents need public transit that is modern, close at hand, comfortable and affordable. We need transit that will take us where we want to go. We need it NOW, not a decade or two from now. And we need to keep it public. The narrow interests of those who say "it's subway or nothing" and who want to privatize it will leave many Scarborough residents stranded.

Read our position statement on the Scarborough subway here.

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