RC118 MayJune 2025 - Magazine - Page 10
LEADERSHIP
And in fact that work is happening right now. The excavation of
the station at King and Bathurst is almost done and the work we
did recently on the Lake Shore East line allowed for a complete
realignment of the rail to enable the service that will eventually be
the Ontario Line. So that project, which is so arterial for our region,
is coming forward. And remember, the goal of our GO Expansion
program is to create 15 minute or better all day service on 昀椀ve feeder
line, which is doubling the total trips on the GO network in the next
10 years.
“As we build, how do we think about making transit more of an
appealing option, while simultaneously, making it more frictionless
for people to ultimately avail themselves of the transit that we do
have? What I’d say to you is we’re embracing new initiatives, new
technologies, new partnerships in order to improve a昀昀ordability and
to make the user experience, the rider experience that much better.
One example is fair integration and new PRESTO payment options.
In 2024, 25 million transfers were made using One Fare that saved
commuters more than $81 million collectively on the cost of getting
around. This is as much a success of our partner transit agencies as it
is of Metrolinx.
“What are some challenges that we face and how can we improve
our performance, especially when it comes to building large capital
projects?
“The 昀椀rst thing that comes to mind is the reality of tari昀昀s that
are in front of us right now. I actually think that in some ways
the uncertainty that’s being driven right now in the supply chain
associated with tari昀昀s kind of closely approximates the situation
Infrastructure Ontario faced during the pandemic, where we had all
of these 昀椀xed price contracts that were in place suddenly to 昀椀nd that
something that none of us could have ever anticipated had taken
hold, and we had to deal with it commercially. And I think we need
to take the same approach. We need to think quickly about how to
continue to adapt the models that we use in order to take account of
ideas that we’ve got about regimes that could work, to share this risk
in a certain way that’s manageable and defensible, especially when
we have to turn around and defend it to the taxpayer in respect to the
risks that they’re ultimately bearing.
“Another huge challenge that I think collectively we’re going to
have to manage is the risk of public disruption, as we do e昀昀ectively
open-heart surgery on the city. That’s what’s happening, right? And
I think we’re doing lots of things that ultimately will help mitigate
the impact on residents. More o昀昀 street property acquisition. You’ll
see Metrolinx doing that, so that marshaling areas and lay down
areas can be less in the right of way, that ultimately lead to fewer lane
closures and less disruption to the public.
“But it’s simply true that I think the great challenge for us as a
jurisdiction is to think about how we make the construction window
of these projects as short as we possibly can. On some level, the least
disruptive way to build one of these projects is to try to do it as fast as
you can, even if greater disruption in the short term is the thing that
ultimately happens.
“My call to action is how do we think intentionally about
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