Category Archives: Infrastructure

Ontario’s new ride: ION LRT opens in Kitchener-Waterloo

Posted on July 9, 2019 by

On June 21, 2019, Ontario’s first modern light rail transit (LRT) system opened to the public. The launch of ION in Kitchener-Waterloo represents an important milestone for both the region and for the province as a whole: additional light rail … Continue reading →

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How the QEW made way for Ontario’s transportation innovation

Posted on June 26, 2019 by

Queen Elizabeth Way looking east towards Dixie Road in Mississauga Eighty years ago, the Queen Elizabeth Way was officially dedicated by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (for whom it was named). The QEW, which connected Toronto with Hamilton and … Continue reading →

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A “fantastic bonanza:” another transit plan up in smoke?

Posted on March 28, 2019 by

“Bonanza’s” opening credits, where a burning map gives way to the show’s cast, is a great metaphor for Toronto’s transit planning. Continue reading →

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Filling the gap in Southwestern Ontario

Posted on February 26, 2019 by

While there’s GO train service between Toronto, Guelph, and Kitchener, it’s inadequate for the regions’s transportation demands  Earlier this year, I took a ride on Wroute, a new service connecting Guelph, Kitchener, and Burlington that has some characteristics of a … Continue reading →

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A year later, progress on Canongate Trail

Posted on February 20, 2019 by

Canongate Trail, February 2019 In February 2018, Duncan Xu, an 11-year old boy, was struck and killed crossing a residential street in North Scarborough on his way home from school. He was one of forty-two pedestrians unintentionally struck and killed … Continue reading →

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What GO Transit service to Brampton might look like without the freight bypass

Posted on January 29, 2019 by

VIA and GO trains meet at Brampton Station In 1967, GO Transit launched a new rail service between Pickering and Hamilton. The new commuter train service was made possible as GO just built a new freight bypass so its trains … Continue reading →

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Subways don’t always last 100 years

Posted on August 15, 2018 by

Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford liked to claim that subways would last one hundred years, while other “inferior” forms of transit, like light rail systems, would last only thirty. At the time, Ford was pushing for a subway extension to … Continue reading →

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