STAFF REPORT ACTION REQUIRED Expansion of Bus Bypass Lanes on the

Date: August 20, 2012

To: Public Works and Infrastructure Committee

From: Acting General Manager, Transportation Services

Wards: Ward 26 – Don Valley West Ward 29 – -Danforth Ward 34 – Don Valley East

Reference p:\2012\ClusterB\tra\tim\pw12018tim Number:

SUMMARY

In 2010, City Council approved the implementation of bus bypass lanes (BBL) on the Don Valley Parkway between Lawrence Avenue East and Highway 401 in the median shoulder lanes for the exclusive use of GO Transit vehicles. Since the implementation of these BBL in the Fall of 2010, Metrolinx has advised that the reliability of GO Transit service on this route has improved and customer satisfaction has increased.

The success of this first BBL installation has prompted Metrolinx to pursue the implementation of additional sections of BBL on the Don Valley Parkway. The limits of the proposed BBL sections are generally as follows:

north of Pottery Road to south of the Road exit (northbound only on the outer shoulder);

north of the Don Mills Road interchange to south of the St. Dennis Drive overpass (northbound and southbound on the outer shoulders); and

north of the St. Dennis Drive overpass to south of the CP Midtown Division overpass (northbound and southbound on the median shoulders).

The improved reliability of GO Transit service as a result of the implementation of the first section of the BBL has also renewed the TTC's interest in their use these facilities. The TTC currently operates express buses that run daily in and out of the downtown core along the Don Valley Parkway. Metrolinx has no objection to the use of the BBL by authorized TTC vehicles.

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This report seeks City Council approval to implement additional sections of BBL along the above-noted sections of the Don Valley Parkway. All capital costs associated with the implementation of the additional BBL, which will not reduce the traffic carrying capacity of the DVP, will be funded entirely by Metrolinx, as well as all incremental costs to maintain the bus bypass lanes. Authorization is also required to amend the existing agreement between the City and Metrolinx to reflect the new sections of BBL and to address the increased responsibilities and obligations of Metrolinx for the ongoing maintenance of these facilities.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Acting General Manager, Transportation Services recommends that:

1. City Council direct that the median shoulders of the Don Valley Parkway between a point fifty metres north of St. Dennis Drive and a point thirty-five metres south of the CP Midtown Division Tracks (in the northbound direction) and between a point fifty metres north of St. Dennis Drive and a point one-hundred metres south of the CP Midtown Division Tracks (in the southbound direction) be incorporated into the travelled portion of the roadway as traffic lanes, and that those lanes be reserved for the exclusive use by authorized GO Transit and TTC vehicles.

2. City Council approve the widening of the outer shoulders of the Don Valley Parkway along the following sections:

a) between a point two-hundred and fifty metres north of Pottery Road to a point five- hundred metres south of the Don Mills Road exit (in the northbound direction only); and

b) between a point two-hundred and fifty metres north of the Don Mills Road exit to a point four-hundred metres south of St. Dennis Drive (in the northbound direction only) and

c) between a point three-hundred and seventy-five metres south of St. Dennis Drive to a point four-hundred metres north of the Don Mills Road exit to (in the southbound direction only);

and that these shoulders be incorporated into the travelled portion of the roadway as traffic lanes reserved for the exclusive use by authorized GO Transit and TTC vehicles.

3. City Council authorize the use of the existing section of bus bypass lanes between Lawrence Avenue East and a point four-hundred and fifty-eight metres north of , currently reserved for the exclusive use by authorized GO Transit vehicles, also for the exclusive use by authorized TTC vehicles.

4. City Council authorize the Acting General Manager, Transportation Services, to negotiate with Metrolinx revised terms and conditions to the existing agreement dated September 1, 2010 between Metrolinx and the City of Toronto, on terms satisfactory to the Acting

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General Manager, Transportation Services, and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor, for the implementation of the bus bypass lanes as outlined in Recommendations 1 and 2 above, and direct that the Acting General Manager of Transportation Services be authorized to execute any such amended agreement on behalf of the City of Toronto.

5. City Council authorize and direct the appropriate City Officials to take the necessary action to give effect to Recommendations 1 to 4, inclusive, and grant leave for the introduction of any necessary Bills in Council to give effect thereto.

Financial Impact

All costs associated with engineering design and construction of the bus bypass lanes on the DVP, including the installation of necessary traffic signs and pavement markings, will be funded entirely by Metrolinx. These costs are estimated to be $110,000 for the implementation of the bus bypass lanes illustrated as Section 4 in Appendix 1 to this report and $34.0 million for the implementation of the bus bypass lanes illustrated as Sections 1 and 2 in Appendix 1 to this report.

Any subsequent incremental costs associated with the ongoing maintenance (e.g., winter maintenance, surface and barrier repairs, etc.) of any existing and future sections of bus bypass lanes will be the responsibility of Metrolinx. It is estimated that the incremental operating costs to maintain the existing and future sections of bus bypass lanes, as shown in Appendix 1 to this report, are expected to be $127,000 in 2013; $191,000 in 2014; and $245,000 in 2015 and beyond. Transportation Services will include in its future year's Operating Budget submissions budget adjustments to reflect these costs, which will be fully recoverable from Metrolinx.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

DECISION HISTORY

City Council in its meeting of June 8 and 9, 2010 adopted the May 4, 2010 staff report, as amended, entitled, "GO Transit Bus Bypass Lanes on the Don Valley Parkway" (PW33.7) which approved the implementation of Bus Bypass Lanes on the Don Valley Parkway between Lawrence Avenue East and and a point four-hundred and fifty-eight metres north of York Mills Road in the median shoulders for the exclusive use by authorized GO Transit vehicles.

ISSUE BACKGROUND

On an average weekday, approximately one hundred and sixty (160) GO buses are operated in and out of the City’s downtown core using the DVP. Similarly, the TTC operates twenty (20) express buses daily in and out of the City’s downtown core using the DVP. Congestion along the DVP during peak periods adversely affects both GO Transit and TTC bus service, with regular delays resulting in increased travel times for users, less reliability of service and increased emissions by the buses stuck in stop-and-go traffic. There is an opportunity to alleviate these

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problems to some extent through the implementation of additional bus bypass lanes along the DVP.

COMMENTS

In 2010, City Council approved the implementation of bus bypass lanes (BBL) on the Don Valley Parkway between Lawrence Avenue East to a point north of York Mills Road in the median shoulder lanes for the exclusive use of GO Transit vehicles (shown as Section 3 in Appendix 1 to this report). The BBL were implemented in the Fall of 2010 and, as a result, Metrolinx has advised that the reliability of GO Transit service on this route has improved and customer satisfaction has increased.

In an effort to build on the success of the first BBL installation, Metrolinx has identified several other opportunities, in consultation with Transportation Services staff, where additional sections of BBL could be introduced and would ultimately lead to greater service improvements for GO Transit and their customers. It should also be noted that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has expressed an interest in using the existing and future sections of BBL to accommodate their express buses that run daily in and out of the City’s downtown core, currently using the DVP. Metrolinx was advised of TTC's interest in this regard and have expressed no objection to extending the use of the BBL to the TTC.

Implementation of Additional Bus Bypass Lanes

Several sections of the Don Valley Parkway could accommodate additional BBL. The first section would be located in the median shoulders (i.e., to the left of the general traffic lanes) of the Don Valley Parkway in the northbound and southbound directions, and would look and operate similar to the section implemented in 2010. The limits of the BBL (shown as Section 4 in Appendix 1 to this report) would be between a point fifty metres north of St. Dennis Drive and a point thirty-five metres south of the CP Midtown Division Tracks (in the northbound direction) and between a point fifty metres north of St. Dennis Drive and a point one-hundred metres south of the CP Midtown Division Tracks (in the southbound direction).

The sections of median shoulders are sufficiently wide to accommodate buses and would require no physical alteration other than pavement markings and signage. The median shoulder lanes would then be incorporated into the travelled portion of the roadway as traffic lanes but reserved for the exclusive use by authorized GO Transit, specifically GO buses and GO Transit Safety and Training vehicles operated by Metrolinx, and authorized TTC vehicles, specifically TTC buses and Wheel-Trans vehicles. Should City Council approve the installation, this section of BBL would be implemented in the Spring of 2013, at an estimated cost of $110,000 and funded entirely by Metrolinx.

There are two other proposed sections of BBL which would require more effort and time to implement. The sections (referred to as Sections 1 & 2 and shown in Appendix 1 to this report) comprise the following:

between a point two-hundred and fifty metres north of Pottery Road to a point five-hundred metres south of the Don Mills Road exit (in the northbound direction only);

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a point two-hundred and fifty metres north of the Don Mills Road exit to a point four- hundred metres south of St. Dennis Drive (in the northbound direction); and a point four-hundred metres north of the Don Mills Road exit to a point three-hundred and seventy-five metres south of St. Dennis Drive (in the southbound direction).

The implementation of the BBL on these sections would necessitate physical widening of the outer shoulders to adequately accommodate buses, including the widening of two bridges at the Beechwood Drive and CNR overpasses, and relocation of twenty (20) high-mast lighting poles. Given the complexity of road alteration work and the fact that this work is located within an environmentally sensitive area, an Environmental Assessment (EA) was undertaken by Metrolinx using the Transit Project Assessment Process (TPAP). The Environmental Project Report (EPR):

Identified the limits along the DVP for implementation of the BBL; Examined preferred alignments; Assessed related impacts and mitigation requirements; and Identified future commitments in subsequent phases of the project (detailed design, construction, and post-construction).

As part of this EA process, extensive consultation was carried out with various government agencies, City of Toronto agencies (i.e., TRCA, Toronto Police, and TTC), local utilities, City Divisions (including Transportation Services, Technical Services, Fire Services and Emergency Medical Services) and the affected local Councillors. A Notice of Completion was sent out for a 30 day public review period of the EPR on March 15, 2012. The Ministry of Environment subsequently informed Metrolinx that it met all the requirements of the TPAP process and that, accordingly, the project was approved.

The outer shoulder lanes would be incorporated into the travelled portion of the roadway as traffic lanes but reserved for the exclusive use by authorized GO Transit and authorized TTC vehicles. The total cost to implement BBL in Sections 1 and 2 is estimated at $34.0 million, which would be entirely funded by Metrolinx.

Amending an Existing Agreement between the City and Metrolinx

There is currently an existing agreement between the City and Metrolinx, dated September 1, 2010, which clearly delineates responsibilities and obligations on a number of matters with respect to the existing bus bypass lanes located between Lawrence Ave East to a point north of York Mills Road. Should City Council approve the implementation of the additional sections of BBL then the existing agreement would have to be amended to include the new sections of BBL in the agreement. In addition, a number of existing terms and conditions would need to be renegotiated with respect to future capital and maintenance costs for the BBL, service levels for the ongoing maintenance and winter services provided to the lanes to ensure they are safe and accessible. To date, Transportation Services has absorbed the cost for the maintenance of the existing section of BBL during the evaluation period of the BBL. However, recognizing that the BBL will require enhanced service levels for winter and summer maintenance activities there will be incremental costs which Transportation Services will be seeking to recover from

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Metrolinx. It is estimated that the incremental operating maintenance costs associated with the BBL, as the various sections of bus bypass lanes are implemented, will be $127,000 in 2013; $191,000 in 2014; and $245,000 in 2015 and in each year afterwards. Transportation Services will include in its future year's Operating Budget submissions budget adjustments for these costs, which will be fully recoverable from Metrolinx.

Staff from Financial Planning, Risk Management of Corporate Finance, Technical Services, Legal Services, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Services and the Toronto Police Service have been consulted in the preparation of this report.

CONTACT

Nazzareno A. Capano, P.Eng. Acting Director, Transportation Infrastructure Management Transportation Services Division Tel: 416-392-5348 Fax: 416-392-4808 Email: [email protected]

SIGNATURE

______

John Mende, P.Eng., Acting General Manager, Transportation Services

NAC/cs

ATTACHMENT

Appendix 1 – Proposed and Existing Bus Bypass Lanes on the DVP

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Appendix 1

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