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jrtgreaterto ro nto0 ffi cialwlllfocus0 ngettin g by patrick casey staff writer v whenever your talk- to your r friends- cofc workervdr family trans- y portatiori in and around greatertqrontqinyariably z becomes a topicfor discus- sion striickfirtth the private 5jc6nsdrtium that bought melectfonic toll highway frome province r establishes key transportation ceri- tres7br transit gateways t the gta where commuters could park getting 6ackand forth from work is often their vehicles purchase thehardest part of any travellerday with t grabtransfers horror stories aplenty of gridlock traffic jarhv to and subway lines as qverturhed vehicles and crazed motorists well as rapid transit ser- butarnyingatiecottageisnopicruceither nor is getting your son to asuppertirhe soccer na igame 30 minutes to the east j convinced to get out of to say nothing of the 250 million trucks cars and into a com- that clart across the highways 16adedwith said fisch gbodsheedirig timely delivery r rthere must be an attrac- c traffic congestion is costing theeconbrhy of getting downtowrr nearly 25 billion a year and with the gta r smoothly- t rexpected tovdd 2 million residents bvethe a much as we love p fi 1 u m 1 our care its no fun to sit in to rnin- idea is to have asj bbatfd is set to unveil a comprehensive docu- muchroom for everybhdy mentouffinmgprbposed solutions to traffic we wont have the congestion for the 70 per cent of freeways that ddajs the gosystem is lafeoperating aytotal capacity during rustr already- successful and 1 hours and interior roadways that are unable p love it once s to hahdlejthe crush of new homeowners union station is upgrad- t armed with a 550000 budget thegtsb ed we can improve the has finetunecl a plan first released in january number of lines going in that detadslkambitious approach to trans- improve themimber nnrtntinn ttfnwrill fpmiirp thnevr 1r tn5l ofjines going north- pqrtation tiiauwillequire thenext 15 to 20 0 years and alijput 5billi6n to fully implex merit jls4c vj t j s there js noquestiohtnafoyerthe last 15 years nobneinvthe gta as wejl as the bbundi although ifie report will be released friday it will be early provincial i andvfederal governments have fall before the dsbs dpnvanythingaikethiswe are auequauy itmance j committee r guiltyof not doing what needs to be done antl oe explained york region chairperson bill rsch t who also heads the gtsbs transportation committee p ironically fisch was 10 minutes late for an interview yesterclay morning after a stalled struck slowed traffic on leslie street to a crawl i j for the first five or 10 years we will just be catching up to whafshbuld have been done vecahiudget programs fromyear to year bttiieclouarsaesoriigh that people iwill just ndtsee fast enough it will take jflireetojour years before qnempre go crain gets to wait for improvements at union station there has to identifies funding methods for the pro jects fisch envisions such measures as gasoline taxes and licence fees being used 5 to raise capital plus a new develop- ment charge 4 all new residential units with upwards of 600 per home directed 1 toward transit needs v however the dol- dealswitiv impfqvements ybr go transit with allday j increased train and bljsservices it isthe most inexpensive wayof gettingpeople out of their cars tnereporttouchesjonra variety of solu tions including coordinated transit services extended subway and go train lines reserved ibus lanes iffirush hours various planes and ldopsloowrbljsestobybassunesbftf and noparkingstanding and stopping zones qnkey v hioccupancyrvenicle lanes and rapid transitacross hwy 7 and hwy 407 qther options although a deal would have to be if we make this happen we will have one heck of a success story and if notit will be one heck of a failure billfischi york chairperson the greater toronto t services board will i unveil a 5billion 20year scheme that will focus heavily on gtjng people to cleave their cars at home and hop on a go or subway train to work every day larsareenqugh to scare the most staunch of jsupportersawayi according to richmond hill j mayor biubeu t w v v scared trie helloiit of gta politicians whenit was first raised twbtys agosaidj bell when we first put a price teg on it all off a sudden we looked around and wondered whereeverybvdywerit rtv a but the gta is supposed to be die ecp homic enone df the province and thiscanhbtfc get dumped because no one wants to spend j the money it has tobe a priqbtywe have c talked about a cledicated source of fiuicttng for a long time but it is goingtb take one heck of a sales job to get this done locally the region has budgeted 108 rhjli liori for transportation improvements this year including widening of aldahgerous- i stfetchof hwy9 wesfof newmarket and the ftj first stage of jthe markham bypass from hwyt 407 to hwy 7jv r v v as well the region attempting to estab- hh the york transit cdmrnittee by january 2001 ppolingjexistmg bussemces from arear municipalities into one seamless systerh but with 19000 new fesidentsexpected in j tyork region this year alqnej fisch says future of gtasanbfattonw6es rests in tthegtsbs massive undertaking x if we make tins happen we will have one heck of a successsfory he said andif not it i will be one heck of a failure j y highlights of york regions portion of the gtsbz transportation strategy set to be released friday morning v tv v enhancing go rail services s extending rush hour service dnthe bradford line between union station and newmarket rt a twoway allday service on the richmond hill line r between toronto and richmond hiipsjt a two way allday service on thestouffviue line y r between markham and union station with si rush hour service to stomtvillei v a new line serving woodbndge klemburg bolton and downsview joining the georgetownjine north of weston station v extension of the richmond hill line to vandorf and the stouffville line touxbndger l- a newlineserving east markham plus a new north i toronto connection between richmond hill and milton u gta transit corridors v v transit comdors could accommodate rapid transit vehicles such as busesstrekcarssubwaysjnd com- muter trains including along hwy 7and hwy407 j through vaughan richmond hill and markham a transit corndpr from the proposed vaughan f j corporate centre through torkjjniversjty and on to the downsview subway station v a transit corndor along yonge street from newmarket- through aurora and richmondhilkto thiernch subway station r r a a transitcomdor along hwy 48 from markham to the scarborough rt line v k enhanced go bus services x i service wjllconnect smaller urtian centres to the gta j transit network including kleinburg king city schomberg nobleton oak ridges holjand landing sharonqueehsvihe mount ajbert keswick jacksons j pont i- rs