Item - 2020.EX18.1

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1. City Council authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services to use the draft Surface Transit Network Plan as detailed in Attachment 2 to the report (November 3, 2020) from the General Manager, Transportation Services as the basis for initiating local Councillor briefings and community consultations.

2. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to bring the consultation plan for the Surface Transit Network Plan to the Executive Committee in the first quarter of 2021, such consultation plan should include:

a. options for local Councillors to request an additional consultation meeting;

b. presentations on the impact to traffic times, using pre-covid traffic, arising from the proposed changes;

c.  consultation through multiple media including in person if possible (consideration of bus stop consultation); and

d. notice of consultations issued to all residents within 500 metres of the route where transit priority improvements are proposed.

3.  City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, when consulting on the Surface Transit Network plan, to consider options which increase the speed and reliability of transit vehicles on routes that do not include removing lanes of traffic such as transit signal priority at intersections, Advanced Transit Signal Priority Systems, right turn lanes, HOV lanes, bus queue jump and receiving lanes, and transit-only turn lanes.

4.  City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to analyze impacts of proposed road designs including travel speed, modal splits, pedestrian and cycling safety, and traffic change impact analysis, and present the results during public consultations for full transparency with residents.

5.  City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Service to report on the additional transit users who will be expected to take the TTC and get out of their cars as a result of the implementation of the Surface Transit Network Implementation Study in each district.

The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the draft Surface Transit Network Plan (STNP) and seek Council feedback and endorsement on the proposal for conducting public consultation on the draft STNP. Following this consultation, the final STNP will come forward to Executive Committee and City Council for approval in June 2021.

In 2018 Transportation Services Division, City Planning Division and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) jointly initiated the Surface Transit Network Implementation Study (STNIS) through a consulting assignment. The study aims to provide a roadmap of policies, governance, evaluation and prioritization along with an actionable implementation plan - the Surface Transit Network Plan (STNP) - for enhancing surface transit priority across the City. 

In 2019, TTC launched its "5-Year Service Plan and 10-Year Outlook" (The Plan), which identified opportunities to improve its service in 2020-2024 and beyond. One key principle of The Plan – "Prioritize Surface Transit" – overlaps with STNIS. The STNP brings these two initiatives together to form a consolidated program for delivering surface transit projects in the City of Toronto over the short and long term.

The objectives of the STNP are to:

• Develop a framework for evaluating and prioritizing all surface transit priority corridors identified in the City's Official Plan Map 5 and the TTC's 5-Year Service Plan and 10-Year Outlook;
• Identify new opportunities for enhanced surface transit priority corridors not identified in the City's Official Plan;
• Set out public and stakeholder consultations to align the findings from STNIS with community needs and priorities; and,
• Develop an implementation program and funding framework for the top-20 corridors.

The Surface Transit Network Plan aims to create a comprehensive network of surface transit priority corridors along arterial roads through the use of tools such as reserved lanes, intersection and signal improvements and customer comfort improvements at transit stops to provide priority to public transit in the City's road network.

Transit priority corridors have been assessed based on five criteria: Existing Transit Ridership, Equity, Connectivity to Higher Order Transit, Population and Employment Growth, and Ease of Implementation. Corridors with higher cumulative scores will be considered for the implementation program.

The evaluation and prioritization process, findings and recommendations from STNIS will be the starting point to guide and plan for future environmental assessments and engineering studies.

Following public consultation, and as part of the report seeking City Council approval of the final STNP, a 2021-2024 implementation program will be developed to bring forward specific surface transit priority projects for subsequent Council approval. A three-year project cycle is envisioned for each set of projects: 

• Year 1 - Engineering studies of two corridors; alternatives analysis
• Year 2 - Detailed design and public consultations
• Year 3 - Council approval and project delivery

The proposed public consultation plan would involve two rounds of consultations for each community district. The first round consists of plan presentation and solicitation of community input on the draft plan. City/TTC staff will incorporate input and revise the plan accordingly to report back to the public in the second round of consultations, then will bring forward recommendations for plan implementation to Council.