On November 20th, 2017, Urban Land Institute (ULI) Toronto hosted a members-only breakfast event with Metrolinx at the head office of Arup Canada. The event was meant to showcase the Draft 2041 Regional Transportation Plan which outlines the 25-year plan for the GTHA region.

Phil Verster, President and CEO of Metrolinx, gave the opening remarks and set the stage for the consideration of the Draft Plan that will guide the strategic direction of transportation for the region until 2041. He said that transit will continue to be a major focus of the political agenda as it is crucial for a region’s economic growth. Verster also noted that Metrolinx believes that a high degree of collaboration is needed, which is why he feels sessions like these are very useful. At the end of the day, the option that gets selected depends a great deal on the political landscape of the day. He concluded by stating that there was a need for more formal structures to enhance collaboration.

Following Verster’s remarks, Leslie Woo, Chief Planning Officer of Metrolinx, went over the Draft Plan in detail, highlighting how the planning document, The Big Move, and government financial commitments to transportation charted the way forward towards the visioning of the plan. She discussed some of major projects such as LRT, Eglinton Crosstown, and Finch LRT that are currently underway and necessary for the levels of population growth and travel demand that the region is experiencing. She also outlined how the Draft Plan had to take into consideration the uncertainty that some future trends such as autonomous vehicles and climate change posed to transportation planning. The Draft Plan required a great deal of efficiency to be built in and planners to think about the ability to retrofit projects, especially given the ever-changing nature of transportation.

Five strategies are defined in the draft plan: completing the delivery of current regional transit projects; connecting more of the region with frequent rapid transit; optimizing our transportation system; integrating land use and transportation; and preparing for an uncertain future. Woo highlighted how Metrolinx was employing a number of metrics to measure how they are performing with regards to the vision that they have set out. The goal is to increase job accessibility to the region’s population.

Audience members posed a wide range of questions regarding land value capture, the governance structure of Metrolinx, use of big data in transportation planning, autonomous vehicles, investment optimization and examples from other cities that could be replicated in Toronto. Those who attended the breakfast enjoyed a lively conversation and left hoping that the Draft Plan would be able to deliver on its promises.