The Big Move rapid transit projects

The Big Move is a regional transportation plan (RTP) published in 2008 and consisting of 62 rapid transit projects to be implemented across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). These rapid transit projects are intended to form a seamlessly integrated regional rapid transit network, which is the first priority action in the regional transportation plan. These projects form two long-term templates with 15 and 25 year horizons. These templates outline broad projects; specific details about technology, alignment, stations and service levels for each project are subsequently determined though a cost–benefit analysis or an environmental assessment process.

List of projects

Horizon	Type	Project	Termini
15 years	Express rail	1	Lakeshore West and East	Hamilton / West Harbour	Oshawa
2	Kitchener	Brampton	Union Station
Regional rail	3	Niagara extension	West Harbour	Confederation
4	Milton	Meadowvale	Union Station
5	Georgetown	Mount Pleasant	Union Station
6	Union Pearson Express	Pearson Airport	Union Station
8	Crosstown	Dundas West / Bloor	Summerhill
9	Barrie	East Gwillimbury	Union Station
10	Richmond Hill	Richmond Hill	Union Station
11	Richmond Hill	Bloomington	Richmond Hill
12	Stouffville	Mount Joy	Union Station
14	Seaton	Seaton	Union Station / Summerhill
15	Lakeshore East	Oshawa	Bowmanville
Subway	16	Spadina extension	Sheppard West	Vaughan
17	Yonge extension	Finch	Richmond Hill Centre
48	Relief Line	Pape	Dundas West
Other rapid transit (LRT/BRT/AGT)	18	A-Line	Hamilton	Hamilton Airport
19	B-Line	McMaster University	Eastgate Square
20	Burlington Connector	Downtown Burlington	Burlington
21	Dundas Street BRT	Brant Street	Kipling
22	Trafalgar	Highway 407	Oakville
23	403 Transitway	Oakville	Renforth
24	Highway 10	Mayfield West	Brampton
25	Main Street	Downtown Brampton	Highway 407
26	Hurontario LRT	Highway 407	Port Credit
27	Waterfront West LRT	Port Credit	Union Station
28	Züm Queen	Downtown Brampton	Peel–York boundary
29	Viva Highway 7	Peel–York boundary	Locust Hill
30	Finch West LRT	Pearson Airport	Finch
31	Eglinton Crosstown LRT	Pearson Airport	Kennedy
32	Highway 427 South	Pearson Airport	Kipling
33	Jane	Vaughan	Jane
34	Don Mills	Highway 7	Donlands
35	Viva Yonge	Richmond Hill Centre	Newmarket
36	Sheppard East LRT	Don Mills	Meadowvale Road
37	Scarborough RT	Kennedy	Malvern
38	Highway 2	Scarborough Centre	Downtown Oshawa
39	Brock Road	Pickering Town Centre	Highway 407
40	Oshawa Connector	Oshawa Central	Downtown Oshawa
41	Stage 2 ION	Fairway station	Downtown Cambridge
BRT in mixed traffic	42	Highway 407	Burlington	Brooklin
New corridor	43	Highway 410 extension	Bovaird Drive	Hurontario Street
44	Highway 427 extension	Highway 7	Major Mackenzie Drive
45	Highway 404 extension	East Gwillimbury	Keswick
46	Highway 407 East	Highway 7	Highway 35 / 115
25 years	Express rail	47	Mississauga	Cooksville	Union Station
4	Richmond Hill	Langstaff Gateway	Union Station
Regional rail	5	Milton	Meadowvale	Milton
7	Georgetown	Georgetown	Mount Pleasant
9	Bolton	Bolton	Union Station
13	Barrie	Bradford	East Gwillimbury
49	Havelock	Locust Hill	Union Station
Other rapid transit (LRT/BRT/AGT)	50	T-Line	Centre Mall	Linc / Mohawk Road
51	Brant	Burlington	Dundas Street
52	Trafalgar/Main	Milton	Highway 407
53	Züm Steeles	Lisgar	Highway 427
54	Highway 427 North	Pearson Airport	Queen Street
55	407 Transitway	Highway 427	Unionville
56	Steeles	Milliken	York University
57	Viva North	Davis Drive	East Gwillimbury
58	McCowan	Markham Centre	Scarborough Centre
59	Scarborough Malvern	Kennedy	Malvern
60	Steeles/Taunton	Milliken	Downtown Oshawa
61	Simcoe	Downtown Oshawa	Highway 407
New corridor	62	Niagara–GTA	Hamilton	Niagara
63	GTA–West	Guelph	Bolton

Implementation

GO Transit Regional Express Rail

Regional Express Rail is a project to improve GO Transit train service by adding all-day, two-way service to the Barrie line and the inner portions of the Kitchener line and the Stouffville line, and by increasing frequency of train service on various lines to as often as every 15 minutes on five of the corridors. This would be achieved with the full electrification of the Lakeshore East line and the Barrie line and the electrification of the inner portions of the Lakeshore West line, the Kitchener line, the Barrie line and the Stouffville line.

Toronto

LRT projects

A mock-up of the Bombardier Flexity Freedom that was planned to be used on LRT lines across the GTHA

On 28 September 2012, Metrolinx signed a master agreement with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to implement four new light rail transit lines in Toronto:

These projects were also identified in Transit City, a rapid transit plan announced by former Toronto mayor David Miller and TTC chair Adam Giambrone on 16 March 2007. After $4billion in provincial funding for Transit City from the Ontario government was deferred, the projects were rolled into a "5 in 10" plan, referring to goal of completing the four LRT lines and a BRT line in ten years. The plan also included the purchase of 182 light rail vehicles from Bombardier Transportation.

In December 2010, Rob Ford, who succeeded David Miller as mayor, announced his intention to cancel key parts of Transit City, saying "we will not build any more rail tracks down the middle of our streets." However, he was open to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, given that it is primarily underground. Ford acknowledged that he will need council's support to put an end to Transit City. In early 2012, Toronto City Council voted in favour of motions to resume work on the Sheppard, Eglinton and Finch LRT lines, and on replacing the Scarborough RT, defeating Rob Ford's campaign for subways.

The subway debate has continued in regards to the replacement of Line 3 Scarborough. Toronto City Council voted in June 2013 for a proposal to build the Scarborough Subway Extension. In light of this, Metrolinx threatened to stop work on Scarborough rapid transit, or even walk away from the project. Meanwhile, the Minister of Transportation Glen Murray was open to a modified project, as long as any costs that were additional to what the province originally committed. In September 2013, the Government of Ontario announced it would build a subway, but it would terminate at Scarborough Centre station, and consist of "a minimum" of two stops. The City of Toronto has moved forward with planning an extension of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth in Scarborough.

Subway projects

On 29 November 2012, Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig announced two subway projects for Toronto region that would be pursued in the upcoming 15 years:

Relief Line
Yonge North subway extension

A TTC study was completed in 2012 to address existing capacity constraints on the existing Yonge subway and GO Transit lines. The study projected even with planned improvements on both networks, significant capacity issues would remain by 2031, recommending that a Downtown Relief Line be completed prior to the Yonge subway extension. The Big Move initially ranked the downtown relief line as lower priority, for completion within a 25-year time frame, and Metrolinx Chair Rob MacIsaac stated in 2008 that the line is unlikely to be brought forward from its projected 2020 start date. By March 2012, TTC CEO Andy Byford stressed there was great need for additional subway capacity with the increasing rate of population growth in Toronto, and capacity issues along Line 1 Yonge–University, stating "The downtown relief line has got to be looked at and has got to be talked about right now." Metrolinx accordingly stated that capacity issues may allow the DRL to be given higher priority in The Big Move, which was made official with the Phase 2 announcement.

Peel Region

The Hurontario LRT in Mississauga and Brampton will represent a replacement of existing express bus services offered by MiWay and Züm. The line will run from Steeles Avenue in the north to Port Credit in the south. This will allow connections to GO Transit's Milton and Lakeshore West lines, and bus terminals at Brampton Gateway, Mississauga City Centre, Square One, and Mississauga Hospital. The LRT was planned to extend further north along Main Street to Brampton GO Station, but Brampton City Council voted against this portion of the route. Construction is expected to commence in 2018, and the line is projected to enter service in 2022.

The Mississauga Transitway is another rapidway being built along Highway 403, Eastgate Parkway and Eglinton Avenue is being built in a partnership between the City of Mississauga and GO Transit. The transit corridor will run east–west across Mississauga, with all-station stop and extensive express bus service for thousands of riders per day. Construction began on the 18-kilometre (11 mi) segment between Winston Churchill Boulevard and Renforth Drive in August 2010. The first stretch opened between Hurontario Street and Dixie Road on 17 November 2014, with the rest of the project targeted for opening in 2016.

Hamilton

The Hamilton LRT was identified as one of the top 15 priority projects in The Big Move, and along with the A-Line, was identified for completion within 15 years. These routes are also part of the larger HSR Next rapid transit proposal. The timelines for these projects have slipped significantly due to the initial cancellation of funding in 2019.

The Hamilton LRT will run between McMaster University and Eastgate Square. As of July 2025[update], a request for proposals has been published for early works, including utility relocation. No timeline has been provided for the A-Line route since the 2019 cancellation, and full environmental assessments have not been completed.

York Region

Metrolinx has also pursued constructing dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes, also known as "rapidways", for the Viva service in York region. Rapidways are one element of a $1.4billion investment into York region's transit. The BRT service will include connections with GO Transit, regional transit and future extensions of the TTC subway system. Over 34 kilometres of rapidways are planned, with the goal of buses arriving every 2 to 5 minutes. Construction began in December 2009, and all elements are expected to be completed by 2020.

Notes

(PDF). Metrolinx. 2008. Archived from (PDF) on 3 March 2016. (PDF). Metrolinx. 14 February 2013.

External links

3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine