“Residents and businesses are tired of broken promises and transit plans based on politics, instead of what is needed on the ground. It’s time to get the City's transit plans back on track."
— Mark Saunders

Toronto – Today, Mark Saunders committed to ending the “stop-start-stop” approach to transit planning by accelerating an extension of the TTC’s Line 4.

North York and Scarborough residents have been frustrated for decades by the politicians at City Hall who have constantly started, stopped, and restarted major transit projects, contributing to huge delays and ballooning costs. Even Olivia Chow called the Scarborough subway extension a “waste” in 2014 and promised to cancel it, which would have left residents waiting another decade or more for the Scarborough RT replacement. The next year, she flipped and said she was supporting the subway - because her own NDP party was supporting it in the middle of a federal election.

“How can we trust career politicians like Olivia Chow with critical transit decisions when she changes her mind when it’s politically convenient? North York and Scarborough residents waited decades for City Hall to stop talking and start building the Line 4 extension and the replacement for the aging Scarborough RT,” said Saunders. “Enough is enough. We need to start making decisions on tomorrow’s transit system today, and see them through.”

To expand the access and convenience of transit options, Mark Saunders will:

• Work with provincial and federal levels of government to accelerate the time to completion for the Scarborough subway extension of Line 4 to Sheppard and McCowan, and in doing so, finally give Scarborough and North York residents the transit optionsthey deserve;
• Work with key transit and infrastructure partners to speed up recently announced intentions to study an extension of Line 4 to the west from Sheppard-Yonge Station to Sheppard West Station. North York residents can’t wait another decade for a study;
• they need a more sensible and convenient option of moving across the city right now; and
• Work with the provincial government to undertake a planning assessment for extending the Ontario Line northbound to Sheppard Avenue East, which will give North York residents another north-south option and further relieve congestion on Line 1.

Also as announced earlier in the week, Saunders will offer free TTC to seniors 65+ every Monday from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. to make it more affordable for them to get to grocery stores and medical appointments and also to help reduce social isolation. Saunders will also ask the province to come to the table to provide funding to further expand this initiative.

“Connecting Sheppard-Yonge station to Sheppard-West station is a no-brainer. We need progress now,” said Saunders. “I am the only candidate with a track record of planning and managing large projects and institutions--and working collaboratively with key government partners--to get this done.”

For more information contact: media@marksaundersfortoronto.ca