LATEST NEWS 
September 29, 2006
Brian Shifman and Rebekah McGurran of Smart Commute : North Toronto, Vaughan, check out a TTC bus with bike rack at the ‘Unlock Gridlock’ event recently held at Enbridge Gas Distribution.
More subway expansion key
The $6.7 billion Spadina-York expansion by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is getting a community boost from environmentally conscious construction industry officials.
The new expansion by the TTC past York University was submitted at an Environmental Assessment to the Ministry of Environment in February and an approval is expected this fall.
Andy Manahan has a vested interest in the community group Smart Commute – North Toronto, Vaughan. He is on Smart Commute NTV’s Board of Directors as vice chairman and chairman of Northeast Toronto Advisory Committee.
“The public transit side would benefit [Local 183]. Our union has been involved with previous subway expansions, most recently the Sheppard subway.
“We hope to be involved with the Spadina extension,” said Manahan.
The Sheppard TTC line cost about $934 million and created 14,600 person years in work.
“We definitely would like to see expansion of any number of projects that will get fewer people driving alone to and from work, and creating less pressure on our transportation network,” said Brian Shifman, executive director, Smart Commute – North Toronto, Vaughan.
“We think this will have a massive impact in terms of connectivity with GO Transit, connectivity with the VIVA buses, and certainly good for TTC with getting more intensification in that area.”
GO Transit carries 190,000 passengers in a week through 181 train trips and 1,662 bus trips daily. VIVA is York Region’s transit system covering Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Newmarket, Aurora, East Gwillimbury, King and Georgina.
“In terms of subways, we would like to see a lot more than the Spadina-York subway extension happen, but that’s the first and very important project because of the way it can connect many municipalities,” adds Shifman.
The TTC budgeted $6.7 billion of the Spadina-York line over the next 10 years with 2009 as the highest budgeted year at $832 million.
The line is proposed to extend from Downsview to the Vaughan Corporate Centre.
“We continue to advocate expansion of both transit and the highway and road network,” said Manahan.
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