TORONTO, November 9, 2001 -- As traffic gridlock becomes an increasing source of frustration for commuters across the rapidly expanding communities of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), York University is holding a public forum, Transit Options for the GTA, to discuss the urgent need for improved public transit links and the financial support needed from all three levels of government to make it happen.
Paramount among these links, from the perspective of the University, is the Spadina-York subway extension which will alleviate traffic congestion to and from York University's Keele campus and commuter traffic from York Region to the north. Discussing this and other regional transportation issues will be:
Prof. Ted Spence, a professor in York's Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) and the senior policy advisor in the Office of the President. Spence, who will chair the session, is leading York's subway extension initiative and is actively working with the Toronto Transit Commission, GO Transit, and municipal, provincial and federal officials.
Prof. Richard Soberman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto and a transportation planner, is a former York FES faculty member and the author of the March 2001 City of Toronto Planning Department study "Reducing Car Dependence: Transportation Options for the City of Toronto".
David Crowley, a planner and senior project manager with the Transportation Management Group of Cansult Ltd. in Markham, Ontario, is responsible for the transit component of the ongoing York Region transportation planning study and is a graduate of York's Master's of Environmental Studies program.
Dr. Gordon Chong , chair of the Greater Toronto Services Board which has been instrumental in undertaking GTA-wide studies of transportation issues and alternative solutions.
| DATE: | Wednesday, November 14, 2001 |
| TIME: | 12:30 to 2 p.m. |
| LOCATION: | Room 306 Lumbers Building, York University, Campus, 4700 Keele St. |
The seminar is part of Planning Transformations, a speakers series on urban development issues being held at York University, October 2001 through March 2002.
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For further information, please contact:
| Prof. Ted Spence | Ken Turriff |
| Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the President |
Media Relations |
| York University | York University |
| 416-736-5200 | 416-736-2100, ext. 22086 |
| esspence@yorku.ca | kturriff@yorku.ca |
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