Gridlock Democracy

I'm riding the subway home coming away from a presentation on the future of transportation in Toronto.

On the whole, I'm pleased to see that we have some seriously smart people making decisions on the future of transport in the GTA. With that said however, I feel that as smart as they are, they could use a broader understanding of all the factors involved.

The panel consisted of Gary McNeil, the CEO of Go Transit, (the regional commuter rail corporation), Rob MacIsaac, the chair of the board of the Greater Toronto Transit Association, Adam Giambrone, the chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC: subways, busses and streetcars), Natalie Helferty, an ecologist and an urban planner with 40years of experience who's name escapes me. Everyone was very knowledgeable and handled themselves quite well, but unfortuneately, at least from my perspective, I didn't see a lot of knowledge sharing going on between the groups.

The Go Transit chair was hell bent on expanding his network into the suburbs while the ecologist wanted to focus on better community and urban planning. The TTC Chair was a force on stage with his comprehensive knowledge of the TTC inside and out, while the GTTA chair seemed only interested in overall scope and planning. It was frustrating to watch really because it was obvious to anyone in the audience that all of these subjects were deeply intertwined and yet no one on stage seemed to get it.

I did walk away with some nice moments though. I got Giambrone to commit that they will be phasing out drivers and door operators on the subway in the years approching 2012. I also got some applause when I pointed out that no one seemed interested in the effect of cycling on transit in the city. As much as I might criticise though, I do have the impression that the people in charge of transit in this city really know what they're doing. Giambrone especially, it's nice to have a certain confidence in the abilities of those that would have a serious effect on your life.

Now if only they would all stop talking to us and start listening to each other -- that would be progress.