Sheppard Subway vs Transit City - Do the Math Rob

Sheppard subway extension: A quarter the stops for three times the cost - The Globe and Mail
During the campaign, and now, the numbers haven't really changed. Rob Ford wants to cancel a huge network of rapid transit across Toronto, connecting thousands of people, and replace this with a few new stops on the Sheppard subway line - a line that has been carrying less people than the Spadina-Harbourfront streetcar.

Ford seems to think he has a mandate to halt progress and waste money. If you voted for Ford, is this what you voted for?

Read the article. Do the math. Write to Ford and your councillor and say Yes to Transit City and No to Ford's plan of failure.

1 policeman charged in G20 assault

Toronto Star: Police Officer Charged in G20 Beating
One down, hundreds to go.

Key oberservations on the first big day of the new Toronto City Council

Observations from Rob Ford’s easiest day: Senior Editor Edward Keenan gets a first look at Toronto's new council
Edward Keenan makes some key observations about what happened and didn't happen at the first big meeting for the new Toronto City Council.

Note about Nunziata saying she didn't think they were being televised at one point. - I was watching the meeting at that time on-line via Rogers, and that moment was televised.

Wishful thinking regarding the Toronto Police Services Board

Reining in the unaccountable chief - thestar.com
The Toronto Star is hopeful that Rob Ford will adjust the board so it will guide the police with a firmer hand instead of the afraid-to-give-orders-to-the-police-chief board that we currently have.
This IS their job - to direct the police chief. For the most part, if he is doing his job properly, then they don't need to give him direction. But, when he is not doing his job properly, like when, during the G20 protest weekend, he misdirected police to break the law by assaulting peaceful protesters and to illegally detain peaceful protesters, and when he told the police to allow vandals to damage property and when he told the police to leave vehicles for the vandals to torch and to let them burn, HE NEEDED TO BE DIRECTED!
And, he needed direction after the fact to, as the Star points out.

But, if anything, Rob Ford will not do anything to give the chief direction. Rob Ford thinks all the innocent people during the G20 protest weekend should have been assaulted and detained. Rob is into that, same as he is into not knowing the facts about pretty much everything. He will do quite the opposite to the board - he will make sure that they do nothing to direct the police, even more so than the previous board.

We DO need a strong chair on the board, and a strong board, but, in my opinion, we won't see one for at least another 4 years.

Miller vs. Ford: Who Excluded Whom?

Miller vs. Ford: Who Excluded Whom? « Spacing Toronto
As you can see from the make-up of the exec. budget and TTC committees formed by Miller and now formed by Ford, Miller INcluded councillors of ALL the areas of Toronto on all the committees. But, Rob Ford has EXcluded councillors from Toronto & East York District on all of these 3 committees.

Doesn't seem like a very smart move on Ford's part if he wants to govern properly by representing all the city and including input from all the city.

Adam Vaughan on Metro Morning: "It's not an ideological thing, or a cultural thing," Vaughan told Metro Morning.
 "It's just that the lived experience of people who live in particular
parts of the city are what comprise our civic intelligence and our
institutional memory.  And if they've chosen not to have that around the
table...it's gonna be a difficult time to work together, not on
ideological issues...but just on how to manage the physical realities of
Toronto. You need everyone's input to make good, smart decisions."

Conservative senators passing bad bills that the Liberals let through in the House of Commons

Conservative senators bulldoze through worrying bills - Hill Queeries
We are hearing a lot about what the Conservative senators are doing now that they have a virtual majority in the Senate. But half of what they are doing that people are upset about is passing bad bills that the Liberals allowed to pass in the House of Commons (either by voting to support the bill, or abstaining/not showing up).

It is one thing to complain about a bill, that you backed (like the Climate bill that all the opposition parties supported fully), that had the support of the majority of the House of Commons, being shot down by the Conservative senators. But it's another thing to complain about the Conservative senators passing bills that were supported by a majority of the House of Commons (Conservatives and Liberals).

Now, maybe if the Liberals in the House actually voted against bills they did not agree with in the House we would not have this situation.

Something to think about next election.

What would Light Rail be like?

What Would Light Rail Be Like? - Torontoist
Underground, LRT it would be about as fast as the existing subway trains. Above ground, where there are more frequent stops, it would be slower (as would the subway if it had more frequent (meaning close together) stops).
It would not reduce the number of car lanes (where it looked like it would, they put it underground so it wouldn't).


From comments to the article:
Rich1299: Transit City lines would not take away any lanes for cars, none at all,
two car lanes in each direction before an LRT line and two car lanes
afterwards, plus there won't be dozens of buses constantly stopping in
those car lanes so car traffic will flow much more smoothly on routes
with an LRT on them. In fact the reason the section on Eglinton is being
buried is because they would have had to reduce car lanes if they
didn't so the myth that LRTs take away from cars is just that, a myth.


xtremesniper:
Subways are great. I don't think anyone would actually
take LRT over subway if they had a realistic choice. But given what we
have learned over the past 50 years, I think I'd rather have something
that has a chance for completion in my lifetime over mystical subway
lines that will forever haunt political history files for decades.

Ford is only pushing so hard for subways because he knows that there
won't be ANY ground-breaking on any subway project while he's still in
office. He'll do what he actually wants (to kill Transit City) and the
actual task of starting real subway development will be left for the
next mayor or the one after that.

Toronto needs expanded and improved transit. Doesn't matter how or in
what form, so long as we can get people moving sooner rather than
later. The whole excuse of "do it right the first time" is just hurting
everything even more because it's a simple fact that the TTC wastes a
huge chunk of their budget on union wages and so our government does not
take public transit seriously because they just view it as a cash cow.

I'll take what I can get. Maybe I'll be able to take transit to work by the time I retire. Maybe.

Stells Bells: I'm staggered by Doug's claim that he has been to "every single city in
North America". Surely that claim alone proves that he is full of sh!t
and one need go no further.

Nick: I think Doug's polling question would have to be
examined. For instance, you can ask the question "Does Toronto need more
subways and fewer streetcars?" (obviously, yes) or "Does Toronto need
7.5 km of subway serving a small percentage of its population or 75 km
of right-of-way separated LRT that serves 80% if its population and
frees up space for cars on the road and that's already funded by the province" (obviously, yes!!).

I wish Toronto had votable propositions like US states do, which
allocate specific funds for specific purposes, and which can't be
overturned by the latest dullard to take office. I don't think Ford got a
mandate to forge ahead with some half-baked subway plan but rather to
stop some ill-defined gravy train.

Ford and suburban-only Exec Committee ignore questions and unanimously pass unrealistic initiatives

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/904923--rob-ford-gracious-to-critics-at-inaugural-meeting?bn=1
- Not!

How did they expect Ford to be able to answer any of their questions when he doesn't know anything to start with?
He was asked how will he freeze property taxes without cutting services?
The council will vote on all this next week. That will show the real picture of how Ford's bulldozing tactics will fare in Toronto's government.

Notice in the map in this article, that Miller had 6 members of his committee from the suburbs and 4 from downtown (the writer at the Star calls the 4 "many" while actually, in this case, it would be more factually correct to call the 6 "many"). Meanwhile, Ford's committee has all members from the suburbs and none from downtown (where a third of the population of the whole city lives).

Rob Ford voted 3 times in support of Transit City

Ford cast three votes in favour of LRT strategy - The Globe and Mail
Excerpts:
June 16-19, 2007: City council unanimously adopts a
broad climate-change strategy that encompasses a range of measures such
as energy retrofits, renewable energy projects and tree planting, as
well as a sustainable transportation plan that includes Transit City,
among other moves. Mr. Ford votes in favour of the plan.

Nov. 14, 2007: TTC receives staff report confirming
that the proposed Transit City lines satisfy range of evaluation
criteria and decides to move ahead with first four priority projects –
Finch West, Eglinton Crosstown, Sheppard East and the Scarborough Rapid
Transit replacement. The report is forwarded to city council and the
Greater Toronto Transportation Authority (now Metrolinx).

The report says it is “premature” to draw conclusions about community
and political support for Transit City, but notes that TTC staff has
received “strong support” from city councillors for Etobicoke-Finch LRT.
As well, the report notes, “All City councillors through whose ward the
Sheppard East light rail line would pass, have expressed strong support
for proceeding with this line.”

Jan. 28, 2009: During a debate on subway expansion,
council votes to ask Metrolinx to prioritize a “downtown relief line”
while acknowledging that Transit City remains the “first priority” for
the TTC and the City. Mr. Ford votes in favour.


Nov. 30, 2009: City council approves Eglinton LRT
environmental assessment study by a 37-1 vote (Ms. Stintz votes in
favour; Mr. Ford votes against)


Jan. 26, 2010: City council approves Finch West LRT
environmental assessment study by 40-2 vote (Ms. Stintz votes in favour;
Mr. Ford votes against)


June 8, 2010: City council approves conversion of Scarborough RT to LRT by a vote of 38-1 (both Mr. Ford and Ms. Stintz vote in favour).



Note: Nov 30, 2009 - How was Rob Ford representing his constituents by voting against a rapid transit line into/through Etobicoke?

Rob Ford - a man who has never really understood the issues

Globe & Mail: Ford starts as he means to go on - unfortunately
Rob Ford is already revving up his bulldozer to turn years of progress into rubble.

If he wants to get things done, he will have to learn to work with other people, even people who don’t share his views. If he truly understood that, he might have thought twice before inviting the man in pink to the very first meeting of his term as mayor.

Cherry's "pinko" speech sets the tone of Ford administration

Cherry’s “pinko” speech sets the tone of Ford administration | rabble.ca
Excerpt:

Before Grapes could stand and deliver, he got his game face on by
noting that he was happy to see the ass-end of the artsy elites and it
was time for some lunch-pail, blue collar workers to run Toronto.

Cherry and Ford are millionaires. Hardly blue-collar but every inch the elite.

In today's speech to City Council
(go to the 38 minute mark to see Cherry), Cherry actually outdid
himself. He wore one of his garish suits. This one resembling satin
sheets from a 19th century bordello. Fitting.

He used the word "pinko", a term as outdated as Cherry, four times.
He said he was wearing "pinko" for "all the pinkos out there that ride
bicycles and everything." Then he referred to left-wing pinko newspapers
and left-wing pinkos who oppose Ford (unlike Ford, at least he didn't
call anyone a "right-wing communist bastard").

Cherry finished his crazed, incomprehensible diatribe with the classy: "put that in your pipe you left-wing kooks."

This will be news for a few days as Torontonians and Toronto media
attempt to figure out what happened to this city. One day we had a man
who was Harvard-educated and well-spoken, now we have a Mayor who
struggled with polysyllabic words during his swearing-in and thought
Cherry a wise choice to deliver an address to the opening of council.

But I'm pleased, in a schadenfreude way, that Cherry got to shine in
all his troglodytic glory. He has set the tone of the Ford years. Where
all who disagree with Ford's misstep du jour will be labeled a kook and
any time the media scrutinizes a Ford decision, they will be derided as
pinko left-wing newspapers (never mind the MSM is not remotely left-wing
and never has been).

In a meandering three-minute stand-up routine, Cherry neatly
expressed the rigid ideology of Ford and his cronies. The loathing they
feel toward anyone who questions or protests or criticizes.

Toronto, we are the nerds and city council is run by the football
team and for four years they're going to punch us in the gut, steal our
lunch money, and stuff us in a locker.

Transcription of Don Cherry's speech

More commentary:

National Post: John Moore: Don Cherry's 'swaggering performance by a classic bully'

Globe & Mail: Left-wing councillors lash out after Cherry speech

Canvassers Debate Transit City and Light Rail, Door to Door

Canvassers Debate Transit City and Light Rail, Door to Door - Torontoist
Excerpts:
On Saturday, supporters of the provincially backed plan gathered to
canvass homes in the Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue area, in an
attempt to raise awareness of the plight of light rail in Toronto. Yonge
and Eglinton had been chosen because it falls within the jurisdiction
of councillor Karen Stintz (Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence), Ford’s pick for the next chair of the TTC.
...
"The only person I know who's against it is Rob Ford," he said.

Read the top link for the full story.

Parliamentary committee on the Toronto G20 police actions uncovers more skullduggery by the cops

Toronto journalist witnessed ‘police brutality’ at Toronto G20 - thestar.com
Excerpt:

“One officer held one arm, The other officer held the other arm and a
third officer came up to him and basically told him to shut up three
times, punched him in the stomach. He doubled over. The same officer
brought his elbow down on the small of his back and flattened him. It
seemed to me that that was a massive overreaction to try and check to
see whether somebody was who he said he was.”

Two University of British Columbia students Kirk Chavarie and
Grayson Lepp told the committee of their treatment by police after
attending a peaceful protest earlier in the day, including having to
stand in urine and feces for hours on end in a temporary holding cell in
Toronto’s east end only to have charges later withdrawn.

“Despite what some pundits would have you believe . . . I am
neither a thug nor a hooligan,” said Lepp, who is to graduate from the
UBC’s Okanagan campus.

NDP MP Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) told a news conference on
Parliament Hill earlier that not to hold a public inquiry is to accept
that Canada is becoming a police state where the toe of an officer’s
boot or punch in the gut is the rule of law.

Davies said not only has it been proven that police falsified
evidence to justify widespread arrests — the largest in Canadian history
— they also manufactured evidence, including so-called weapons seized
from completely separate incidents.

“What we need is a full public inquiry . . . if not, one of the
most shameful and largest mass violations of Canadians’ rights by police
and the state in Canadian history will go totally unredressed,” he said

Rob Ford - Crime rate down 30%? Budget tight? Lets's start the Gravy Train and hire more cops!

Ford's plan to hire more police, only cops don't want them - thestar.com
Rob Ford wants to hire 100 more cops for Toronto. Yet, he has not talked to anyone in the Toronto Police Service or the board to see if this is necessary or feasible financially.

Excerpts:
those in high-ranking circles are questioning why the tight-fisted mayor
made the costly pledge without consulting the service, its union or its
board, about whether more officers are needed.
...
Since 2005, crime is down across Toronto by about 30 per cent. Over that
same period, the force has been struggling to get hold of its worsening
financial crisis.
...
Wages and benefits account for 90 per cent of the police budget, which
is also the largest item in Toronto’s $9.2 billion operating budget.
...

The number of police officers on the Toronto force is decided by city council.

In late 2005, following a record year of gang homicides, council
agreed to increase the complement to 5,510 strong. There are sometimes
slight fluctuations due to the lag time between when officers retire and
new classes graduate, but the Toronto force is legally required to keep
its numbers within that range.

When asked if he felt the current staffing levels to be sufficient,
Mukherjee said, “We have obviously felt that the numbers that this
council approved were adequate for what we were using police officers
for.”

If Ford does decide to hire 100 more police officers — a commitment
he reaffirmed to Jerry Agar on Newstalk 1010 in mid-November — council
would need to agree.

Once finalized, it would be politically difficult to reduce the complement, creating permanent budget pressure.

...

The officer debate is playing out just weeks before the association
and board enter contentious bargaining talks. During the last round of
bargaining in 2008, the two sides were forced to enlist the help of a
provincial arbitrator for the first time in a decade. This followed nine
months of negotiating, which ended in a deadlock.

The arbitrator controversially awarded officers a 10 per cent raise
by 2010. Critics, including vice-board chair and councillor Pam
McConnell, lamented that cash-strapped Toronto could not afford the
decision.

The American And Canadian RIGHT Are Taking Us To A Place We Shouldn't Be

Buckdog: The American And Canadian RIGHT Are Taking Us To A Place We Shouldn't Be
Excerpt: - by Dan Gardner, Ottawa Citizen:
"--- A Few Questions We Wouldn't Be Asking In A Sane World---
On Wednesday, in response to a question from the opposition, a minister of the Crown stood in the House of Commons and assured the honourable members that neither he nor the Prime Minister of Canada advocates the murder of Julian Assange.

Which is nice, I suppose. But it's also troubling.

How is it possible that in this most civilized of nations, in 2010, a member of Parliament felt the need to raise the matter? And while we're asking rhetorical questions that would not need to be asked in a sane world, how is it possible that the Republican party has so completely embraced aggression and brutality that almost all its leading figures feel the near-drowning of suspects is a valid interrogation technique and imprisonment without charge or trial is a legitimate practice that should be expanded?

Why is it that most people in the United States and elsewhere are not disturbed in the slightest that, despite abundant evidence, American officials who apparently committed heinous crimes in the war on terror will not be investigated and held to account, while WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who apparently did nothing illegal this week, is hunted to the ends of the Earth? And how in hell is it possible that when a former president of the United States of America admits he authorized the commission of torture -- which is to say, he admits he committed a major crime -- the international media and political classes express not a fraction of the anger they are now directing at the man who leaked the secrets of that president's administration?

I marvel at that paragraph. It would have been inconceivable even 10 years ago. Murder treated as a legitimate option in political discourse? Torture as acceptable government policy? No, impossible. A decade ago, it would have been satire too crude to be funny.

And yet, here we are. The question in the Commons Wednesday was prompted by the televised comments of Tom Flanagan, political scientist and former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "I think Assange should be assassinated, actually," Flanagan said Tuesday.

This was the hard-right id laid bare.
...
Read the link for the full post.

Ford's plan for West Toronto - what is it?

Ford’s plan for West Toronto – what is it? — Valentine Makhouleen — interactive art director

We all know Rob Ford’s stance on streetcars and transit. It bothers me.

Under the proposed Transit City
plan, my neighborhood lies right on the path of Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
Which was great news at the time of the initial announcement of
Transity City – we might have a chance of finally getting to a subway
line without spending up to 45 minutes in the rain waiting for a bus.
Not to mention, it would greatly reduce congestion in Scarlett & St.
Clair area by providing a better transit alternative to the unreliable
bus service. It will also make the neighborhood more accessible to most
vulnerable of our residents – those who can not afford a car, or are
simply not capable of driving one. No wonder most residents in my ward
drive – living in our ward without a car sucks. And there is no better
alternative.

Neither Rob Ford, nor his brother Doug
(who is a councilor in my ward) have put forth a specific plan for the
West LRT line. Based on Rob Ford’s “less streetcars, more subways”
rhetoric I am going to make an assumption that they plan on scrapping
the West LRT line and instead focusing on a subway line. In all honesty,
Westbound Eglinton subway line would be a dream come true. But,
realistically, I do not see a subway line crossing the Humber river
within the next few decades. LRT is a cheaper, and more acceptable
alternative.

...

Read the link at the top for more

More news about the clown prince of Toronto

Newsstand: December 3, 2010 - Torontoist
Excerpts:
Rob Ford plans to set an appropriately clownish tone for his mayoralty by having Don Cherry introduce him at his first city council meeting on December 7.
...
Also on the Fordwatch, our miserly mayor is moving on his campaign promises,
asking his executive committee to approve proposals that would reduce
councillor office budgets by 40%, cut the mayoral office budget by 20%,
and offer guidance for a 2011 operating budget no greater than this
year's $9.2 billion without major service cuts. He'll also look to
repeal the city's $60-a-year vehicle registration fee and have the TTC
declared an essential service, limiting TTC workers' right to strike.
Of course asking for stuff is the usually the easy part, while doing stuff can be tougher. Any recommendations out of the executive committee would have to be approved by city council vote.

If he drastically slashes office budgets, how does he expect the level of service to citizens to also improve? The level of service will drop drastically too.

By making the TTC an essential service, the workers will have to end up being paid much higher (that's how it works when you make something an essential service). This will cost the city, and the riders (fare increases) much more. How is this good fiscal management Rob?

...
It remains to be seen whether all stakeholders will buy into the mayor's
vision of a city where residents and awestruck Pan-Am Games athletes
can travel from Sheppard station to Scarborough Town Centre underground,
as long as they drive cars everywhere else.

A good point and this sums up Fords plan exactly. With Transit City, large areas of the city will be serviced by new rapid transit. With Ford's plan, all that is cancelled and only a tiny piece of Scarborough will be serviced by rapid transit.

Rob Ford has to face reality on public transit funding

Not so fast, Wynne warns Ford on transit - thestar.com
Transit City isn’t dead just because rookie Mayor Rob Ford has decreed
it so, warns Ontario Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne.
...

OCAP challenges the Rob Ford agenda

OCAP challenges the Rob Ford agenda | rabble.ca
Listen to the interview at the link.
As Rob Ford began his first day as the new mayor of Toronto, OCAP
wasted no time in accusing him of embarking upon a Mike Harris agenda.

“It’s going to happen on an enormous scale and it’s
going to happen very, very rapidly,” said John Clarke, an organizer
with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), during Wednesday’s
rally at City Hall.

See also:
Give Rob Ford and his new council the welcome they deserve
Excerpts:
Ford personally complained to the College of Physicians and Surgeons to try and prevent Dr. Roland Wong providing the Special Diet to people in poverty. The basic needs of poor people in this city forced to try to survive on inadequate OW/ODSP rates were are un-affordable in his eyes. However, the cops can expect a whole reservoir of gravy from Rob Ford
...
In his campaign speeches and his public statements, Ford has called for cuts to fair wages, a dismantling of the already inaccessible public transit
system, supported Toronto's police brutality during the G20, and repeatedly expressed racist anti-immigrant sentiments and outright hatred for poor people.

While claiming to speak on behalf of the 'majority', Ford actually believes in a Toronto for the few. He believes in a Toronto divided into suburbs and the downtown. A Toronto divided into streetcar riders, bikers and drivers. A Toronto divided into immigrants, refugees and citizens. A Toronto where the homeless are driven out of sight as social housing is sold off to developers. A Toronto where police budgets grow and cops act with impunity. A Toronto that is open for business, but closed for the public.

Toronto - Transit City - Will it survive?

Where Toronto councillors sit on the future of Transit City - The Globe and Mail
After reviewing the article and adding things up, I see 16 votes definitely for keeping Transit City, 8 votes for scrapping Transit City, and 21 undecided or haven't revealed their views. If 8 more can be convinced to keep Transit City, it will survive. I think when the council sees the cost of cancelling the plan, they will come around to keeping the Transit City plan.

Rob Ford's first day as mayor

Rob Ford's Press Secretary with one of the gravy packets (see the National Post story below for details about the gravy packets).

Global News: Janet Davis and other cllrs say they're ready to fight Ford on Transit City

Toronto Star - Hepburn: Rob Ford and the risky politics of dashed hopes
Excerpt:

First, Ford has done nothing to dampen his supporters’ overly optimistic expectations of what he might actually be able to accomplish. He is still talking as if everything is possible and that it can happen fast.

Second, he has once again shown that he is unwilling to try to work with his opponents on city council. This week he froze out downtown and left-wing councillors when he announced his executive committee and his senior political team.

That’s a recipe for failure because Ford will need their support when it comes to tackling the truly important issues, such as budget cuts, contracting out garbage collection and forging ahead with his plans to build subways.

Third, Ford is already staring at major hurdles in his quest to reshape this city. The most obvious is the pending showdown with the Ontario government over his plans to scrap Transit City. Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday there’s no more transit money for Toronto and that the city would have to eat the costs of cancelling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts already awarded.

If that happens, say goodbye to Ford’s self-described image as a good watchdog over the use of taxpayer dollars.

Torontoist: Day One for Mayor Rob Ford's Toronto, from gravy packets to subway rackets

Rob Ford: the illusionist - EYE WEEKLY

Rob Ford will do everything in his power to halt progress

Ford silently promises a big raise in property taxes in 2012

Ford's war on public transit and bicycles has begun

National Post: Gravy for Mayor Rob Ford

Torontoist: For Rob Ford, A Zero's Welcome At Nathan Phillips Square Protest

See also:
Rob Ford to cut off rapid transit to his supporters

Rob Ford will do everything in his power to halt progress

Hume: Ford to Transit City: Drop dead - thestar.com
Excerpt:

The irony, of course, is that this one-note mayor who rode the “gravy
train” to office, along with a promise to “end the waste at city hall,”
will now preside over the squandering, among other things, of a $8.1
billion mass transit plan that would have brought mobility to thousands
who now spend their lives waiting for the bus to arrive.

Be careful what you wish for, they say, and Torontonians will have four years to discover the truth of these words.

But even before Ford assumed office
Wednesday morning, he had made it clear he would do everything in his
power to halt progress. Then came the appointment of North Toronto
Councillor Karen Stintz to the all-important position of TTC chair. With
that one move, he signalled this isn’t a role he takes seriously.

Ford silently promises a big raise in property taxes in 2012

Ford makes surprise vow to freeze taxes in 2011 - thestar.com
The only way he will be able to do this will to use the surplus left over from David Miller, and to raise taxes double in 2012 (and cut services that the taxes pay for).

Ford's war on public transit and bicycles has begun

‘War on the car is over’: Ford moves transit underground - thestar.com
Rob Ford plans to cancel the Transit City plan, which would have connected a lot of the car-driving suburbanites with the rest of the city (which would have lowered the amount of cars on the congested roads of Toronto).

And we know Rob's attitude toward cyclists - that they should not be on city streets. I think we can expect to see a reduction in bicycle lanes and bike-friendly initiatives.

The new mayor also plans on removing streetcars and replacing them with buses (a more costly and less efficient move in regards to public transit, but buses are easier for cars to navigate around).

With public transit progress halted, and services made worse, and the streets made less safe for cyclists, there will be more cars on the road and even more traffic congestion and more pollution. And, the cancellation of Transit City, and using buses instead of streetcars will cost the city immensely.
How is this a good thing Rob?

See also:
Toronto Star - Transit City: Ford not the only one with a mandate