Connecting Southwestern Ontario Taking the Southwestern Regional Transportation Discussion Further August 2018

Connecting Southwestern Ontario Taking the Southwestern regional transportation discussion further August 2018

Connecting Southwestern Ontario Taking the Southwestern regional transportation discussion further

Recognizing the critical role mobility plays in achieving Oxford’s vision of economic, community and environmental sustainability, Oxford County commissioned Greg Gormick, On Track Strategies, to develop a four-part Southwestern Ontario transportation compendium. As a body of work, the compendium outlines the key issues facing public and freight transportation, freight mobility and eﬃ ciency across Southwestern Ontario, and poses actions that would set the stage for positive transformation.

oxfordcounty.ca SouthwestLynx: SouthwestLynx: By Greg Gormick Integrated High-Performance Public Transportation for Southwestern Ontario On Track Strategies June 2018 Integrated High-Performance Public Transportation for Southwestern Ontario

As the fourth and fi nal of Greg Gormick’s commissioned reports, “SouthwestLynx: An Integrated High-Performance Public Transportation for Southwestern Ontario” is the anchor report underlying the rationale for Oxford County’s commission of the entire compendium. Released in June 2018, the SouthwestLynx report presents the unquestionable viability of High Performance Rail (HPR) complemented by a fully integrated intercommunity transportation system as a logical, practical, aff ordable and deliverable public transportation solution for Southwestern Ontario.

Intercommunity Transportation Community connectivity and mobility is critical to the to intercommunity busing that has occurred since vitality of small urban/rural Southwestern Ontario. 2009 and proposes to re-establish intercommunity SouthwestLynx recognizes the dramatic reduction connections across Southwestern Ontario.

Georgian Bay !( Proposed Intercommunity Busing System Penetang

Orillia !( !( Balsam Lake Owen Sound!( Meaford Sturgeon Lake !( Port Elgin Collingwood !( (! Lake Simcoe Angus Barrie !(Scone !(

Kincardine Lake Scugog !( Alliston!(

Mount Forest !( Oshawa Wingham !( (! !( Arthur Orangeville !( Lake Huron Goderich !( !(Listowel Fergus !( Brampton (! (! Toronto Guelph (! (! !( Mississauga Kitchener (! Milton Lake Ontario Stratford Cambridge !( (! (!Burlington St. Marys !( Hamilton(! St. Catharines !( (! Grimsby Niagara Falls Woodstock!( (! Brantford !( Michigan Ingersoll !( Welland !( !( !( !( (! London Sarnia Wyoming Strathroy !( !( (! Buffalo Fort Erie Simcoe!( Port Colborne St. Thomas !( !( Tillsonburg Small Urban/Rural SWO Intercommunity Bus !( Connections Thamesville Port Stanley !( Canada-USA Border Oxford County Boundary Chatham Lake St. Clair (! Lake Erie Intercity Motor Coach Detroit (! Routes 2018 (! Windsor Greyhound Megabus New York Ontario Northland Leamington Go Transit Bus - not !( all routes shown Pennsylvania 0 10 20 40 60 Kilometers ³ In partnership with municipalities, the Province of across Southwestern Ontario. This connects the Ontario and the motor coach industry, an integrated residents of small urban/rural Southwestern Ontario intercommunity transportation system can provide to the large urban centres, to each other, to work, to key transportation links between communities and healthcare services and to shopping, recreation and to the existing passenger rail corridors for residents entertainment activities. 2 Passenger Rail SouthwestLynx proposes a High Performance Rail (HPR) solution that can be accommodated within the existing rail corridors serving Southwestern Ontario.

Proposed High Performance Rail (HPR) Corridors ! (! Newmarket (!! Aurora ! !( (!Whitchurch-Stouffville !( (!! King City Bowmanville Orangeville ! ! ! (! Whitby (! (! ! ! Wingham Caledon (! ! (! ! !( Richmond Hill !( Markham(! Ajax (! Oshawa (! ! (! ! (! ! (! Vaughan(! (! Pickering(! !( ! !( (! !((! (! (! (! (! Goderich Toronto - (! !( CN - Halton (! (! Subdivision Brampton(!(! (! (! Kitchener/Stratford/St Marys (! Toronto (! (! (!! Halton(! Hills (! P Huron East ! (! (! !( Clinton ! ! Mississauga (! (! Goderich-Exeter Railway (! (! (! (! !(! 2 Guelph (! (! ! Current 15Proposed Seaforth (! Milton !( (! Lake Ontario

! Oakville Bluewater CN - Guelph !( ! Waterloo ! (!!( Subdivision (!! Kitchener Lake Huron !( !( (! New Hamburg Stratford ! Cambridge (! Canadian National Exeter (! !(! ! Canadian Pacific Burlington(! ! Bayview Junction ! South Huron (! !( Bayview Junction Niagara-on-the-Lake St. Marys ! ! (!! (! Hamilton !( Paris ! St. Princeton ! Stoney Creek (! Catharines Parkhill Grimsby ! Toronto - Sarnia ! Brantford (! Woodstock !(! ! Lincoln !(! Thorold (! CN - Dundas ! ! Forest !( (! ! Subdivision Niagara Falls Michigan Ingersoll !( Current1 Proposed4 (!! Toronto - Welland Niagara Sarnia London ! River ! ! !( Strathroy (! !( Brantford/Woodstock/Ingersoll !! (( !( (! !(!( (! (!! !( !( Fort Erie Dunnville ! Komoka ! Port Colborne Petrolia ! ! Tillsonburg CN - CP ! Southern Railway Inc. Woodstock - Komoka Ontario Southland Current5 15Proposed ! Simcoe Ontario Railway St. Thomas ! Aylmer ! (! Toronto - London

Canadian Pacific (!

!( Current7 30Proposed Toronto - Windsor !( Canadian National !( Lake Proposed St. Clair Chatham Current Two-ways Daily Trains Current4 Proposed8 !(!!( Lake Erie St. Clair Windsor Beach Existing Rail Corridors (! ! ! ! VIA Rail Tecumseh Improvement Areas ! Belle River !( ! Stations Lakeshore (! Freight (! Passenger Amherstburg ! Oxford County Boundary Canada-USA Border Kingsville ! ! Leamington

05 10 20 30 40 Pennsylvania Kilometers ³ Ohio

SouthwestLynx identifies five key constraint areas Subdivision and CN-Guelph Subdivision along within the existing North Mainline (Toronto - the North Mainline and Bayview Junction, the Brampton - Guelph - Kitchener - Stratford - St. Marys CN-Dundas Subdivision on the South Mainline, - London) and South Mainline (Toronto - Hamilton as well as a CN-CP Woodstock-Komoka line - Brantford - Woodstock - Ingersoll - London) rail consolidation to dramatically improve freight and corridors. SouthwestLynx then identifies specific passenger rail travel in/out and through London. improvement opportunities for the CN-Halton 3 Georgian Bay (! The SouthwestLynx Plan Penetang

Orillia (! (! Balsam Lake Owen Sound!( Meaford Sturgeon Lake (! (! Collingwood Port Elgin !( Lake Simcoe Angus Barrie (!Scone (!

Kincardine Lake Scugog (! Alliston(!

Mount Forest (! Oshawa Wingham (! (! (! Arthur Orangeville (! Lake Huron Listowel !( Goderich (! Fergus (! Brampton!( Toronto - Kitchener/Stratford/St Marys !( Toronto Guelph !( (! !( Mississauga 2 Kitchener Lake Ontario Current 15Proposed (! Milton Cambridge Stratford !( (! !(Burlington

Hamilton St. Marys !( !( Toronto - Sarnia St. Catharines (! (! Grimsby Niagara Falls Woodstock!( (! Brantford (! Michigan Ingersoll Current1 Proposed4 !( Welland !( Toronto - Brantford/Woodstock/Ingersoll (! (! !( !( London Sarnia Wyoming Strathroy (! (! (! Buffalo Fort Erie Simcoe(! Port Colborne St. Thomas (! 5 !( Tillsonburg Current 15Proposed

(! Toronto - Windsor Thamesville Port Stanley (!

Orillia (! (! Balsam Lake Owen Sound!( Meaford Sturgeon Lake (! (! Collingwood Port Elgin !( Lake Simcoe Angus Barrie (!Scone (!

Kincardine Lake Scugog (! Alliston(!

Hamilton St. Marys !( !( Toronto - Sarnia St. Catharines (! (! Grimsby Niagara Falls Woodstock!( !( Brantford (! Michigan Ingersoll Current1 Proposed4 !( Welland !( Toronto - Brantford/Woodstock/Ingersoll (! (! !( !( London Sarnia Wyoming Strathroy (! (! (! Buffalo Fort Erie Simcoe(! Port Colborne St. Thomas (! 5 !( Tillsonburg Current 15Proposed

(! Toronto - Windsor Thamesville Port Stanley (!

Current Proposed Two-ways Daily Trains Current4 Proposed8 Chatham Lake St. Clair !( Toronto - London Lake Erie Detroit Existing Rail Corridors !( Small Urban/Rural SWO (! Windsor Inter-Community Bus Connections Current7 30Proposed Canada-USA Border New York Oxford County !(Leamington Boundary Pennsylvania 0 10 20 40 60 Kilometers ³ An Integrated Solution for Southwestern Ontario SouthwestLynx proposes a fully integrated public All of the SouthwestLynx passenger rail transportation solution that will serve the people improvements have the added benefi t of and businesses of Southwestern Ontario. As well, providing much needed freight rail enhancements because both existing rail corridors are utilized, the and capacity improvements that will serve SouthwestLynx proposal enhances the passenger Southwestern Ontario. rail opportunities to more than 1 million more people in Hamilton, Brantford and Niagara Region.

Key elements of the SouthwestLynx Plan

SouthwestLynx: • Practical, aff ordable and implementable alternative to High Speed Rail By Greg Gormick Integrated High-Performance Public Transportation for Southwestern Ontario On Track Strategies • Optimizes existing north and south rail corridors, proposing solutions June 2018 to key capacity constraint areas including: - CN-Halton Subdivision - CN-Guelph Subdivision - Bayview Junction - CN-Dundas Subdivision - CN-CP Woodstock-Komoka • Major passenger rail service improvements Toronto to London: increase from 7 return trips daily to 30 return trips daily Toronto to Windsor: increase from 4 return trips daily to 8 return trips daily Toronto to Sarnia: increase from 1 return trip daily to 4 return trips daily

• Enhances existing rail service to: Toronto to Brantford/Woodstock/Ingersoll: increase from 5 return trips daily to 15 return trips daily Toronto to Kitchener/Stratford/St. Marys: increase from 2 return trips daily to 15 return trips daily • Southwestern Ontario-centric proposal that maintains passenger rail connections to Woodstock, Ingersoll, Stratford and St. Marys • Fully integrated intercommunity transportation network connecting people across Southwestern Ontario • Leverages GTHA planned rail improvements to enhance passenger rail opportunities to over 1 million people in Hamilton, Brantford and Niagara • Enhances freight rails capacity and negates costly options that delay other planned works

6 Building a Transportation Strategy for Southwestern Ontario Additional Reports Supporting SouthwestLynx Proposal

New Directions: Advancing Southwestern Ontario’s Public New Directions Advancing Southwestern Ontario’s Public Transportation OpportunitiesApril 2016 Transportation Opportunities Released in June 2016, with an update in August 2017, “New Directions: Advancing Southwestern Ontario’s Public Transportation Opportunities” was timed to inform public policy and funding decisions on the future of our national and provincial transportation systems. The New Directions report proposes the design of a fully integrated public transportation system that contributes to Southwestern Ontario’s competitiveness and long-term sustainability.

oxfordcounty.ca

Empowering Ontario’s Short Line Railways Empowering Ontario’s Short Line RailwaysBy Greg Gormick Released in February 2017, “Empowering Ontario’s Short Line Railways” On Track Strategies For Oxford County November 9, 2016 tells the story of short line railways in Ontario: understanding their value and understanding their challenges. Short line railways evolved as Class 1 railways exited the business of short rail operations. The report says that now is time for meaningful dialogue on the future of short line rail.

1 oxfordcounty.ca Photo by Michael Berry

Steel Corridors of Opportunity

Steel CorridorsMaximizing the Benefits of of SouthwesternOpportunity: PreparedOntario’s byFreight Greg GormickRailways April 2018 “Steel Corridors of Opportunity: Maximizing the Benefi ts of Southwestern Ontario’s freight railways” was released in June 2018. The report focuses on Southwestern Ontario’s freight railway system, which is a vital component of our economic, community and environmental prosperity.

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7 Oxford County’s advocacy role

Oxford County Council continues to demonstrate also recognized the need to influence public policy municipal leadership through the adoption of, and well beyond its borders, including advocacy for ongoing financial support to advance, the Future Southwestern Ontario. Oxford Community Sustainability Plan and its related Oxford County’s transportation reports are available commitments to achieving 100% Renewable Energy for download at www.oxfordcounty.ca by 2050, Zero Waste and Zero Poverty. Through these commitments and ongoing support, Council has

Acknowledgments

Oxford County acknowledges and thanks Rhonda Acknowledgment and thanks are also extended to Franks of Baseline Creative for design of the four Walter Pfefferle of Railpast for his generous donation Oxford County regional transportation reports. of photography across all four reports.

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