Evidence thin for approval of Vaughan GO station
Metrolinx board chair Robert Prichard says station approval process “a combination of science and art,” but couldn’t provide details supporting decision to approve Kirby station.

Toronto Star and thestar.com
By BEN SPURR
June 28, 2017

The chair of Metrolinx said he could not provide detailed numbers to support the transit agency’s decision to approve a new $98.4-million GO Transit station in Vaughan that an internal report recommended not be built.

Speaking after a meeting of the Metrolinx board on Wednesday, Robert Prichard was asked about the board’s decision, made a year ago, to approve a new stop at Kirby on GO’s Barrie line.

The station would be in the riding of Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, whose ministry oversees Metrolinx.

The Star previously reported on a secret report commissioned by Metrolinx that determined Kirby “does not generate any benefits” in terms of reducing road congestion and recommended that it “should not be considered further during the next 10 years.”

The secret report was a summary of initial business cases Metrolinx commissioned for potential new GO stops. The business case for Kirby, which was made public, found that the area around the stop had low projected employment and residential density for a new rail station.

Asked why the board had approved Kirby despite the negative reports, Prichard said that those analyses were based on development plans that Vaughan had approved at the time the business case was conducted, but that the municipality had since come forward with plans to create more development around the station.

Prichard explained that the business case was one factor in the decision-making process, but that Metrolinx also took into account “the input of stakeholders,” including elected and unelected local officials, which “we combine with our analytical work.”

“It’s a combination of science and art, if you will,” he said.

Metrolinx met with Vaughan’s mayor and other officials and “it was clear Vaughan had larger ambitions for growth,” Prichard said.

The business case for Kirby was based on projections from a city study that went before Vaughan council in February 2016 and determined there the parcel of land around the station could accommodate between 19,000 and 27,000 residents. That worked out to between 45-65 people and jobs per hectare by 2031, which is low for a regional rail station.

However, in a letter to Prichard in June 2016 Vaughan’s mayor, Maurizio Bevilacqua, cited a much higher figure, and said the land would accommodate 35,000 new residents.

A spokesperson for the city of Vaughan said in an email Wednesday that “updated population and employment projections are expected to be completed later this year.”

The business case analysis that was based on the lower population and employment figures contained detailed projections for the proposed Kirby stop, including how many people would use the station, how much it would cost to operate, and how it would affect the existing transit network.

It determined that the benefits of Kirby “are not large enough to outweigh the anticipated negative impacts to GO Transit and the economy.”

Asked whether Metrolinx had done the same analysis with the newer, higher development projections provided by Vaughan, Prichard said: “I don’t personally have” such figures.

Prichard said the board’s decision was “conditional” and that Metrolinx will continue to update its analysis based on development in Vaughan. If the greater density doesn’t materialize “we can back off,” he said.

Kirby is scheduled to start construction in 2022, and is estimated to cost $98.4 million to build and $27.3 million to operate over 60 years.

The station was one of 12 new stops that the board approved last June as part of the province’s $13.5-billion regional express rail expansion plan.

Del Duca has said that as MPP for Vaughan he is a “long-standing supporter of the Kirby GO station” and that he gave “input” into Metrolinx’s decision-making process. There is no evidence he improperly intervened to secure the stop’s approval.