Oct 30, 2008 - 03:01 PM

By Reka Szekely

DURHAM -- The Metrolinx team, including chairman Rob MacIsaac, stopped by Whitby's Heydenshore Pavilion on Tuesday in one of seven public consultation events on the Big Move, the draft regional transportation plan for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.

Although Metrolinx staff said some of the public meetings in other municipalities drew 100 or 150 people, only about 40 people attended the event in Durham. That included visitors from other municipalities and employees of Durham Region and its municipalities. Only about a dozen seemed to be Durham citizens out to give their input.

In roundtable discussions, participants were asked what they liked about the plan, what they didn't like and what they saw as the highest transit priority in the GTA and Hamilton.

Ajax resident and local transit blogger David Harrison said while he hasn't digested the whole plan, among the aspects he liked was the emphasis on regional express GO service and on long-distance routes not going to downtown Toronto.

"The GO train is our subway here except we don't have subway-like frequency," he said. However, he raised concerns about the fact that a conversation over funding the plan is not happening.

So far, $11.5 billion of the necessary $50 billion is funded through commitments from the Province. Metrolinx is looking for another $6 billion from the federal government, in which case the plan will be funded through 2018. Metrolinx plans to look at revenue options in 2013.

Mary Sutherland, a member of the Durham Accessibility Advisory Committee, said she didn't see much focus on accessibility in the information released so far.

It was important that the system be accessible in practice, not just in theory, she said.

"You would be surprised how often I come across an accessible door and I press the button and the door doesn't open, nothing happens," she said. She also pointed out that many wheelchair accessible buses can't accommodate scooters because they're larger.

Mr. MacIsaac told her that the plan was to be universally accessible and also said one of the goals of the plan is to have region-wide specialized service.

Of the eight spokes in the Metrolinx plan, the participants on Tuesday ranked a fast, frequent and expanded regional transit network as their number-one priority, followed by a complete walking and cycling plan and an investment strategy to provide stable and predictable funding.

Following the event, Mr. MacIsaac responded to criticism from Durham Regional Chairman Roger Anderson, who has said there's not enough in the plan for Durham.

"We could never have enough money to put all of the infrastructure in that all of the municipalities from the region would like to see," he said.

For example, Mr. Anderson has called for a transit corridor along Hwy. 407 extension in Durham. But Mr. MacIsaac said sophisticated computer modelling shows the ridership may not be there.

As to the treatment of the 407 extension in general, which is listed as under study in the 15-year portion of the plan, Mr. MacIsaac said he expects there will be amendments to how the highway is represented in the Metrolinx documents.

"We had no intention of saying the extension of the 407 shouldn't proceed under our plan," he said.

When it comes to criticism of how the entire plan will be funded, Mr. MacIsaac said he's mostly hearing that people want to get the ball rolling.

"There's certainly a group of people who'd like to have us drill down revenue tools, but that's not a message I'm hearing from a broad base in the region."

Members of the public have until Nov. 14 to give their thoughts on the Metrolinx plan. They can do that by visiting www.metrolinx.com.

"If people make cogent arguments to us about something we missed, we'll definitely take that under consideration," said Mr. MacIsaac.

The final report will be presented to the Metrolinx board in late November.