March 2007 The TTC approves the Transit City Light Rail Transit Plan. November 2007 The Commission approved proceeding with four priority projects: Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Finch West LRT, the Sheppard East LRT and the Scarborough RT. Click here for a larger map Spring 2009 The Province of Ontario announces $8.15-Billion in funding for the four Transit City Priority Projects. July 2009 Metrolinx, Ontario’s regional transit-planning agency, takes control of the Transit City light rail expansion. Robert Prichard, CEO of Metrolinx, says the new Transit City light rail lines along Eglinton, Finch and Sheppard Avenues will look like other TTC services to riders, but Metrolinx will own them and other Transit City lines. December 2009 Ground is broken on the Sheppard Avenue LRT. April 23, 2010 Mayor David Miller and City Councillor Karen Stintz spend almost an hour by the main turnstiles at Eglinton Station, handing out brochures for a “Save Transit City” campaign that the Mayor is fiercely pushing. Seven months later, new mayor Rob Ford will recommend Stintz as his new TTC chair and she concedes that things have changed. “The Metrolinx plan will be revisited and I will continue to support the Metrolinx plan as it gets revised provided it meets the objectives of the administration,” she said. April 28, 2010 Mayoral candidate Rob Ford says he would scrap the Transit City light rail plan in the absence of full funding from the province, and try to build subways instead. Ford has always been against streetcars, and said a vote for him would be a vote against expanding that mode of transit. He released his full transportation platform in a video on Youtube on September 9. May 5, 2010 Metrolinx tells City Council about a revised plan for Transit City’s four approved light rail lines. The new plan would see lines cut by a total of 22.5 kilometres and 24 fewer stations than the original Transit City plan. In addition, the completion of the Scarborough RT, Eglinton Crosstown and Finch lines have been delayed by an average of about five years, and the plan calls for the scrapping of a light-rail link to Pearson International Airport. June 14, 2010 Metrolinx signs a purchase agreement with Bombardier for 182 Transit City light rail vehicles, valued at $770 million. It includes an option for 118 additional vehicles to a maximum of 300 LRVs in total. These vehicles will serve the four Transit City priority projects: Sheppard East LRT, Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Finch West LRT and the Scarborough RT replacement/extension. November 19, 2010 A little more than three weeks after the election, the National Post reports that Metrolinx officials met with members of Rob Ford’s transition team. Metrolinx sought the Ford team’s blessing for the light-rail plan, but got nowhere. “There was no sense of backing off,” said a source. “They are pretty keen on a subway.” December 1, 2010 Rob Ford meets at City Hall with TTC General Manager Gary Webster, to tell the head of the commission to stop building the Transit City light-rail network. “I wanted to make quite clear that he understood that Transit City is over, the war on the car is over and all new subway expansion is going underground, and that’s pretty well it,” Mr. Ford told reporters. “I just told him that everything moving forward is underground and he accepted that, and I look forward to working with him.” Currently, Transit City employs 150 people, divided between consultants and TTC staff. The TTC has already spent $137-million in provincial money on the project. February 17, 2011 Mayor Rob Ford proposes private sector financing to fulfil his campaign promise to build subways along Sheppard Avenue instead of light rail. Metrolinx says it is looking at the proposal and will be getting back to the city soon.
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