Toronto City Council is moving forward with plans to look into providing transit signal priority on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, weeks after transit advocates voiced concerns.
The decision was made during a council meeting on Wednesday where a congestion management plan was heavily discussed.
As part of the management plan, The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommended that the city develop a strategy to expand transit signals priority systems to all high riderships corridors.
The motion was then amended by Mayor Olivia Chow and Ward 12, Toronto–St. Paul’s Councillor Josh Matlow who directed the city to report back to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee in July on the implementation of signal priority along the above-ground section of the Eglinton LRT.
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Currently, the vehicles on the upcoming line are set to be waiting at red lights on its above ground sections, however priority could be given if the vehicles are running behind schedule.
A recent ‘Give Transit The Green Light’ campaign was launched by TTCriders to ensure that both the vehicles on the Finch West LRT and Eglinton West LRT were given full signal priority.
“If a bus is carrying 30 people, I think that bus should have priority over a car or two cars that are carrying two people,” Chow said, during the meeting. “People have waited for this Eglinton Crosstown for so long… so we look forward to it running and anything we can do to make it smoother.”
In a statement to Now Toronto, Matlow says that after years of delays and budget overruns, it’s important that both the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRT are fast and reliable.
“Taxpayers have put billions of dollars into this infrastructure, and it would be foolish to have transit cars stuck behind red lights,” he said.
Matlow says his motion looks to get transit riders where they need to be on time due to “real” signal priority at intersections.
TTCriders Executive Director Andrew Pulsifer is also celebrating this step forward after launching their campaign earlier this month.
“We are thrilled that Toronto City Council listened to more than 1,300 transit users who wrote in support of signal priority on the Eglinton and Finch LRTs,” Pulsifer said. “They deserve reliable transit that gets them where they need to go—faster, not being stuck behind red lights.” he said.
The group says the job is still not done, and is looking forward to a council decision in July.
The Eglinton Crosstown LRT was originally set to open in 2020, a new date for the long delayed line has yet to be announced.
