REVIEW OF METROLINX’S BIG MOVE Michael Schabas, First Class Partnerships Limited Neptis Foundation December 2013 Review of Metrolinx’s Big Move Michael Schabas, First Class Partnerships Limited ISBN 978-0-9739888-8-8 Suite 501 1240 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M5R 2A7 +1 416 972 9199
[email protected] www.neptis.org ©2013 Neptis Foundation Review of Metrolinx’s Big Move 1 To Tony Coombes, 1937-2013, who created better cities with his patient observation, meticulous analysis, and thoughtful perspective. Review of Metrolinx’s Big Move 2 Review of Metrolinx’s Big Move 3 FOREWORD This report began as a question asked by Tony Coombes, the founding executive director of the Neptis Foundation, who passed away earlier this year. It then continued as a conversation between Tony and Michael Schabas, the report’s author. Both Tony and Michael were colleagues during the early days of the Canary Wharf project, when Canada’s powerhouse development company, Olympia and York (O&Y), set out to build a new city centre in east London. Tony hired Michael as O&Y’s Vice-President of Transport, to conceive, plan, and make the business case for the Jubilee Line Extension that would link London’s Underground to the new city, and to upgrade the Docklands Light Railway. Many years later, Michael and Tony reconnected during one of Michael’s visits to Toronto, his hometown. Metrolinx had just released The Big Move, the $36 billion regional transit plan. Questions were raised as the two began a series of conversations about the Plan. • What evidence suggests