GUELPH POLITICAST #195 - Marshall on Transit

This weekend, the new Transit Action Alliance of Guelph (TAAG) will be holding their first annual Transit Summit and Town Hall. It will be a chance for the transit users and the transit curious to engage with City of Guelph employees and transportation advocates about how to make a transit-friendlier future. But why wait to get started? 

This week, we'll hear from Sean Marshall, who's a prolific writer and advocate for transit and will be speaking and presenting at the Transit Summit on Saturday. Marshall's a geographer by training, but he’s made a name for himself as one of the preeminent voices on transit issues, covering them on the TVO website, and on his own personal blog, by digging into the history and the challenges all around this province in creating more transit and better active transportation options.

These are interesting transit times. In Guelph, we’re in the middle of creating a Transportation Master Plan. Up the road in Kitchener-Waterloo, the long-awaited LRT finally started running this past summer. In Toronto, the city council there finally reached a deal with the Government of Ontario to fund new subway expansion while retaining ownership of the present system. And Metrolinx is doing their damnedest to make two-way, all-day GO trains a reality on the Kitchener Line. So why does it still feel like we're going no where fast?

On this week's podcast, we'll consider that question in what we'll call a preamble to the summit. Marshall will talk about growing up as a transit nerd in Brampton, and how that much maligned GTA municipality might actually be a really positive example of transit expansion done right. We also talk about the transit challenges in Guelph and the region from Marshall’s perspective, and we get into the weeds about the Ontario Line, two-way, all-day GO and the transit plans from the Provincial Government. Finally, we'll talk about private operators and what role they can play in answering the transit needs of Ontario.

So let's get prepared to summit on transit with this week's Guelph Politicast!

You can find Sean Marshall's writing on TVO.org, and on his personal website. The first annual Transit Summit and Town Hall this Saturday at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church from 12 to 5:30 pm, and you can get tickets at TAAG's website. 

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