Councillors’ plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions will create more walkable and transit-focused communities
TransformTO wants changes made by 2050 but council still needs to find and approve funding.

TheStar.com
May 4, 2017
David Rider

TransformTO, a landmark report by Toronto city staff, got a stamp of approval from the environment committee Thursday. To take effect though, it needs city council approval — and funding. Jim Baxter, one of the report authors, walks us through the plan to get greenhouse gas emissions to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.

Q. What would Toronto would be like in 2050 if the plan is executed?

Many Toronto neighbourhoods will be mixed-use areas that have a wide range of services. All new dwellings built after 2030 will be within walking distance of transit or built to transit-supportive densities. Homes will use just 20 per cent of the energy they used in 2015 and produce nearly zero GHG emissions. Comfort and health of indoor spaces is improved through high-performance retrofits. Space heating and cooling is sourced from neighbourhood-scale district energy systems that use low-carbon fuel like ground-source or waste heat.

There will be more accessible transportation options. It is easy to walk to schools, parks, grocery stores, restaurants and other key destinations. Safe and pleasant bike lanes and sidewalks will make it easy for people of all ages to walk or bike. And you'll be in good company with most of your neighbours walking or cycling for trips under 5 km. Transit is much more extensive with new subway lines and enhanced bus and train systems. Affordable, shared electric vehicles are easily accessible for trips that are too complex for transit and too far for walking or cycling.

Q: Many people will read things like: no fossil fuel vehicles, or reducing waste to landfill by 95 per cent, and think this plan is pie-in-the-sky. Is it actually achievable and why?

The scale and pace of effort required to achieve these goals is certainly significant, but TransformTO is showing us that there is great potential to leverage low-carbon actions to bring us multiple community benefits and achieve a modern future city. While the changes may sound daunting, remember that this is a long term plan — 33 years into the future.

Q: What is the biggest advantage for a city like Toronto to become a global leader of GHG reduction?

The level of ambition of the TransformTO plan is on par with plans in many other cities in North America and internationally, from Berlin to London to Washington, D.C. and Vancouver. All over the world, cities are leading on the climate change action front, transforming their transportation, land-use planning, and building stock to make their cities more livable, safe, resilient and affordable for residents, and to attract business investment.

Q: What needs to change in terms of transportation infrastructure?

A shift from fossil fuels to electricity for transportation will require a well-managed transition plan to replace existing infrastructure. An electric vehicle charging strategy will need to be developed in consultation with key community stakeholders, to decide where infrastructure should be built and how the associated management will work — like how car owners will undertake payment for accessing public charging stations. EV owners may become “prosumers” — selling back a portion of their battery charge to be accessed by the utility to reduce peak electricity loads, and agreeing to re-charge their car at off-peak times.

Finally, Toronto needs to complete its plans for a network of bicycle lanes, and work with local neighbourhoods to improve the safety of infrastructure for local trips.

Q: What are the potential costs if Toronto does not take bold steps to reduce its GHG output?

Toronto faces rising costs the longer we delay these actions, both because of direct cost increases for the necessary infrastructure investments and because of the lost productivity and increased costs associated with inaction. Energy inefficiency in our social housing stock means that the cost of heating, lighting, etc. is higher than it could be. Energy upgrades provides an opportunity to provide higher-quality housing at a lower cost for those who are most in need. Of course, congestion is already costing us significantly with respect to productivity as well as reducing quality of life. In many areas, the market is already moving ahead and we need to position ourselves now to get in step – for example with electric vehicle trends – or we will find ourselves in the position where we must patch together expensive interim solutions. We also need to grasp retrofit opportunities to bring down energy costs to shield residents from energy poverty. Households in over 50 per cent of neighbourhoods could save between $250 and $500 per year for heating, cooling and electricity.