The following comment was left by Ed Drass in the Metrolinx thread, and I have moved it to its own post so that replies are kept together for easy review.

Steve, if I may, I am wondering whether there is any interest among readers of your site in attending a series of meetings to discuss the RTP over then next few months.

The meetings can be informal or I could attempt to promote them as an unofficial complement to the Metrolinx/Metronauts consultation process.

Either way, the plan would be to discuss in depth the research and planning that has gone into the RTP, as well as the possible impact of the recommendations.

It would important, for me at least, to hear comments not only from knowledgeable people who are following the process ‘from the outside’ but also to invite the professional planners and consultants who have actually helped develop the plan.

We could work out how to deal with any attribution issues since I (and possibly other media) would attend.

If anyone wishes to assist or advise, you can contact me via transit (at) eddrass.com or 416-922-0077. Thanks for the space, Steve.

Steve: Don’t forget that the time is very constrained and a final version of the RTP has to go to the Premier by late November. Effectively, this limits everyone to the month of October for feedback if it will have any hope of making it into the plan.

Events of the past 24 hours have overtaken me with the leak of a draft of the Draft Regional Transportation Plan to the Globe and Mail.  I had intended to hold off talking about that for a few days on the assumption it would leak out of this weekend’s retreat by the Metrolinx Board, but there it was, at least a few tastes, on the front page no less.

All the same, I want to pursue my original plan which was to trace the evolution of plans to what is likely going to show up in the Draft RTP.

In the previous post, I talked about the IBI studies done for the GTTA/Metrolinx startup in January 2007.  The Green and White Papers, and now the draft plan are direct descendents of those original studies, but with important differences along the way.

All of the reports I am discussing (except the draft plan which is not yet published) are available on the Metrolinx website.

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