THREAD: The familiar refrain of transit doubt.

Have you noticed how vague these talking points are? Start with a list of things that are scary. Then just throw out the term "re-think" and offer little else.

#greenlineyyc has gone through several re-thinks and consultations. https://twitter.com/AdamMacVicar/status/1349423069605945345

2/ I mean, the project was really the idea of an LRT in the north and a BRT in the southeast. Understanding the pitfalls of making through travel onerous (we learned from Red/Blue line), a single united line emerged. We moved on, with a better project.

3/ Then there was the discussion of Nose Creek. It was studied. Prominent people pushed for it, the evidence and logic wasn't there. So we moved on, with a better project.

4/ Then there was the challenge of the core. Tall buildings, existing plus 15s, deep tunnels. There was a lot of debate, give and take, and incremental improvements. We moved on, with a better project.

5/ So here we are. We've reached the phase where shovels are meant to be in the ground. This project represents a collection of re-thinks, but a key theme remains: we figure out what works, and we move forward.

6/ This is what's so frustrating about the vague refrains of transit doubt. There HAVE been re-thinks. Politically, it was an election issue. It's gotten commitments from several higher-order governments. Like, this project has stood pretty tall despite a lot of swirling hot air.

7/ If you want to know what perpetual re-think does to a transit system, look at Toronto. It's so desparately behind on accommodating growth and riders that even during a pandemic things get crowded. This came from perpetual doubt and "re-think".

8/ When I hear "re-think the Green Line", I see the image of Doug Ford pointing at a poster board that seemed hastily translated from a napkin. I see a lot of head shaking, shoulder shrugging, and hand wringing.

The re-thinks are done. Build the darn thing.

#greenlineyyc