Infrastructure – a top priority for our region

Board of Trade members have consistently told us that a strong infrastructure foundation is a top priority to ensure Toronto’s economic competitiveness today and as our city continues to grow and evolve. Over the last 18 months, the Board’s ongoing advocacy on infrastructure has focused on transit and transportation — particularly on ensuring that Metrolinx’s bold, $50-billion regional transportation plan, The Big Move, becomes a reality.

Why is regional transportation so vital to our future?

Gridlock and congestion impede our mobility and productivity on a daily basis. The Board’s Scorecard on Prosperity 2010 showed that Torontonians currently face some of the longest commute times worldwide. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently concluded that Toronto’s lack of transportation infrastructure is the leading drag on our region’s global competitiveness. Acording to Metrolinx figures, gridlock costs the region $6 billion annually.

What is regional transportation?

The Big Move. Transit City. Move Ontario 2020. Transit in the Toronto region falls under a number of headings. But for businesses and residents, they all mean the same thing: Helping the region improve its competitiveness and quality of life by helping our disparate transit systems overcome decades of chronic underinvestment and lack of coordination.

• Read Regional Transportation: A Guide for the Perplexed, and learn more about the initiatives involved in building the Toronto region of the future
• See the connection between Transit City and Metrolinx’s The Big Move

Success stories: Getting regional transportation on track

As the leading voice in support of a regional transportation vision, the Board’s advocacy was instrumental in the creation of Metrolinx, the Province’s regional transportation authority for the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA), as well as the passage of The Big Move, Metrolinx’s Regional Transportation Plan in 2008. 

Based on long-standing policy positions championed by the Board, the Province reformed Metrolinx’s governance structure in March 2009, investing the agency with greater legislative powers and introducing a Board of Directors comprised of private-sector experts.  The Board’s ongoing work then resulted in over $10 billion in funding commitments from the provincial and federal governments for shovel-ready Metrolinx projects.