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Downtown Relief Line

Motion Moved by: Theodor Poenaru Seconded by: Romeo Tello 1. That the City Youth Council of Toronto recommend to the Toronto Transit Commission to develop and implement a Downtown Relief Line connecting the Yonge line and the and Bloor-Danforth line by 2025. 2. That the City Youth Council of Toronto recommend to Metrolinks to push the building of a Downtown Relief Line up its list of priorities, so construction can begin in 2016 once the Spadina expansion is completed. Summary The Toronto Transit Commission has constantly set and broken ridership records these past several years. With the addition of several new LRT lines and the Spadina subway extension, the downtown portion of our subway system will only get more crowded. Toronto has the second-largest transit system in North America, and ridership to the downtown core is projected to rise by 50% over the next 19 years. The TTC Board has voted in favour of exploring the possibility of a Downtown Relief Line, and in a Forum research poll 61% of respondents voted that it was a transit priority. However, Metrolinks has slated this project for consideration by 2037, and the TTC has not yet established a timeline. The City Youth Council of Toronto needs to establish a firm pro-Downtown Relief Line stance in order to ensure that the City of Toronto, TTC and Metrolinks understand the urgency of this situation and act rapidly to reduce the strain on our already overcrowded downtown core. Financial Impact There will be a financial cost of around $3.2-6.2 billion (depending on the length and configuration of the line) to the City of Toronto and/or the Province of Ontario and/or the Government of Canada. There will be no financial impact to the City Youth Council of Toronto. Background Information 1. Tess Kalinowsky Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1273614--ttc-makes-the-case-fordowntown-relief-line November 22, 2012 2. Charlsie Agro and Jamie Strashin CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/10/24/ toronto-ttc-.html November 22, 2012

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3. City of Toronto http://www.toronto.ca/invest-in-toronto/tor_overview.htm November 22, 2012 4. Forum Research https://www.forumresearch.com/forms/News%20Archives/News%20Releases/ 28241_Toronto_Transit_Poll_%28Forum_Research%29_%2820121026%29.pdf November 22, 2012

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