Bits & Bites SUDA will, from time to time, post comments about recent news and observations about urban issues.   Rapid Transit across the GTA's suburban middle: Current public transit plans for the Greater Toronto Area do not adequately address the travel needs of travelers to and from suburban areas of the region.  Getting across the middle of the region means having to drive a car.  SUDA presents an option for a single continuous bus rapid transit service across the GTA from Pickering through Toronto and across Mississauga. For more information click here.

Amendment to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe  The Government of Ontario has presented an amendment to the Growth Plan under the Places To Grow Act that would enable the County of Simcoe to reduce intensification and density minimums in Simcoe's local municipalities.  SUDA suggests that reducing standards in Simcoe is no more appropriate than doing so in other areas of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.  Because intensification is an issue of significance to existing residents, SUDA has proposed that an intensification offset formula could be implemented that would allow reductions in intensification if (and only if) much higher densities on greenfield lands are implemented by the municipality.  Click here  for more information.  Suburban sprawl in the Toronto region and elsewhere continues, constrained only somewhat by legislation designed to preserve rural lands and improve the efficiency of communities.  Click here to view a recent letter by SUDA in response to a media story.

Road Pricing   The issue of road pricing (i.e. tolls) on major highways in the Toronto region has been reported in the Toronto media.  SUDA disagrees with the concept for a variety of reasons.  Please click here to read more. Plastic to Oil   Click here to view an amazing (and we mean amazing) video that deomonstrates a method of converting plastic waste to oil.  Plastics are heated in a low-oxygen container to a melting point, and recondensed as oil.