Would love to see stats on how many tickets paid-duty officers (PDOs) actually hand out these days. I can’t say I often see them doing any active “traffic enforcement,” unless playing some sort of racing game on their phone counts. www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...

If you missed it yesterday, here’s a compiled thread of my council budget meeting coverage, featuring discussions of reserve funds, Taylor Swift, “the big fat feds”, the virtues of mechanical vacuum leaf collection, and the supposed vices of darn near everything else. tbsky.app/profile/grap...

Toronto Council meets today! It's budget time. This year, the mayor has backed a low residential property tax increase (just 2.2%!) so it's not clear what council will argue about, but I'm sure they'll find something. The meeting stream is here. I'll post happenings. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HA3...

My @thestar.com column: With Toronto cops facing a huge corruption scandal, it should be impossible for Mayor Olivia Chow and Toronto council to just rubber-stamp yet another big police budget increase today. The job of police reform is not done. Not by a longshot. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #370! A recap of one council meeting, and a preview of another! I’ve got notes on visitor parking stats, a small biz tax break, a SmartTrack audit, and some big little details in the city budget. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/one-counci...

This is so cool. Only thing that would make it better would be if the Konami code unlocked a bonus level where you get to battle Phil Verster in a mech suit.

Interesting transit tidbit buried in this budget report: staff are recommending council approve a review of options for the (largely unfunded) Eglinton East LRT, like whether it should be on-street, grade-separated or underground. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

City Council meets today! Kinda. It's the customary mid-budget mini-meeting, with very few agenda items. The most notable is a planning change that'll make it harder to build a backyard swimming pool. Pool enthusiasts and Council fans can watch live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozla...

My @thestar.com column: The Eglinton Crosstown is finally opening this Sunday, but please, spare us the celebration. We don’t want a party — we want an apology, an explanation, and a reason to believe a bungled project like this won’t ever happen again. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #369! LOBBYIST WATCH returns to look at the first month of 2026. There are tidbits about Waymo, a yacht club, Michael Ford and more. Plus: Chow’s budget, and a mini preview of this week’s mini council meeting. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/lobbyists-...

My @thestar.com column this week: Blame it on the snow. This week I write about an absurd idea that maybe isn’t actually that absurd — heated pavement! What if Toronto just heated some of its busiest sidewalks, bike lanes and roads, and melted the snow away? www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

If this is just a “soft launch”, treat it like one — hold off on the ribbon-cutting hullabaloo until the line is running like it’s supposed to. (I’d also suggest offering free rides until then, but doubt there’s budget. Sucks that riders have to pay for a beta test.) www.thestar.com/news/gta/egl...

Report on TTC merch recommends against establishing a physical TTC store selling swag, but says the TTCshop.ca online store will be improved with more items added. There will also be a TTC vending machine with various transit-themed items in place for the World Cup. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

A pair of notable presentations set for next week’s TTC Board: @englishrail.bsky.social on speeding up streetcar/LRT lines, and Narayan Donaldson from @mobycon.bsky.social on better signal priority. They (with @rmtransit.bsky.social) wrote this Star op-ed last year: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #368! Take a break from shovelling and read the municipal news. I’ve got the latest on the budget process, a Council Scorecard update with housing data, and a look at the potential for a seabus on the waterfront. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/a-blizzard...

Bike Share Toronto is surveying its members about Presto integration, like potentially providing a fare discount when you ride a Bike Share bike to a TTC station. Neat.

On the left: Councillor Brad Bradford in 2020, joining with a small group of councillors to support taking a look at heated pavement as a way to encourage more winter cycling. On the right: Brad Bradford in 2026, doing whatever this is.

Number of cars ticketed for parking on snow routes following major snowstorms in Toronto, per the Star’s Mahdis Habibinia: Feb 2025: 3,627 (over two weeks) Jan 2026: 10,551 (over four days) Pretty good progress. www.thestar.com/news/gta/her...

New briefing note looks at how Doug Ford’s bike lane ban is affecting Toronto’s cycling plan. About 30% of council-approved bike lane projects need to be modified or cancelled. Lists Sheppard East bike lanes as a “paused” project, Dupont Street is “deferred.” www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis... (PDF)

My @thestar.com column this week: The Finch West LRT’s biggest problem isn’t signal priority. It’s not maintenance either. Instead, the biggest issue is a total lack of clear accountability. Without fixing that, this train’s always going to struggle. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Check your inbox: it's City Hall Watcher #367! Budget season continues! I've got far too many budget notes, about things like rooftop police drones, new ways to get married, reserve fund ratios, and, naturally, goats. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/wedding-be...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #366! The 2026 Budget Launch Spectacular! A night of too many charts! Find out what’s up and what’s down with Toronto’s draft spending plan for the year ahead. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/the-2026-b...

Toronto's budget committee is about to meet to hear about the draft 2026 budget. Most of the headlines — a 2.2% residential property tax increase, a fare freeze — are already written, but let's see if there are any other newsy tidbits. Meeting will stream live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7ar...

Geez, a 2.2% residential property tax hike — just 0.7% after you account for the City Building Fund —seems risky as hell. Sets up a hugely difficult post-election budget situation in 2027, unless there’s a new New Deal brewing. www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...

An owner that denies problems. An operator that has no ability to fix problems. And a maintainer that just doesn’t respond to questions. Doesn’t seem like a great way to run a railroad. www.thestar.com/news/gta/why...

My @thestar.com column this week: The good news about Toronto’s new traffic czar? He helped push for the tough choices that led to the only Toronto traffic fix that ever worked. Here’s what we should remember about the 2015 Pan Am Games transportation plan. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #365! LOBBYIST WATCH wraps up 2025, with the crowning (?) of City Hall’s busiest lobbyist. Also: notes on Waymo, robot house builders, and a TTC budget that comes with some real risk for next year. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/and-2025s-...

Check your inbox: it's City Hall Watcher #364! The year in charts! A look at the legends and plots that told Toronto City Hall's story in 2025. Plus: a new chart looking at Toronto Council's longest debates of 2025. 🔓No paywall. Happy holidays! toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/2025-the-y...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #363! Before you slam that laptop shut, enjoy a recap of Council’s 2025 swansong, with quotable quotes about the Finch LRT & intolerable cruelty. Plus: a look at income and councillor votes on the luxury tax hike. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/council-de...

Council just voted to APPROVE an update on their rooming houses regulations without any debate at all. Councillor Gord Perks, the planning & housing chair, was so excited about this that he did a little dance.

City Council meets today! It's the last and final meeting of 2025. They'll go out with a bang (?) with debates on speeding up the Finch LRT, a luxury home tax hike, climate change, bike lanes and more. It'll stream live here. I'll post the major happenings. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOh5...

Love Matt's new vote similarity display. And I think helps visualize something I've been thinking for a while. Both Chow and any potential successor needs to get to 13 reliable councillor votes to function. Chow's 13th is Michael Thompson for now. How's a right leaning mayor going to make this work?

Having trouble parsing this one. Is Godzilla supposed to be a NIMBY or a YIMBY? (via www.torontotoday.ca/local/real-e...)

One of the big barriers to effective transit signal priority in Toronto seems to be that the transportation department believes: a) that they’ve already basically implemented it in a lot of places; and b) that it’s not actually that effective. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

My @thestar.com column this week: Bike Share Toronto is riding high but a new growth plan risks putting a proverbial stick in the spokes, with a big focus on extracting more revenue from users. Let's not let enshittification ruin this ride. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #361! An update to the Council Scorecard brings a fun new feature comparing vote patterns. Everyone has a buddy and a nemesis, it turns out. Also: fare capping, land transfer tax hikes, parking concerns and more. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/introducin...

Mayor Olivia Chow is introducing fare capping for TTC riders in her upcoming budget. Instead of having to decide whether it makes sense to buy a monthly pass in advance, rides will automatically be free after 47 trips starting next Sept.

My @thestar.com column this week: All signs point to Mayor Olivia Chow unveiling an election-year budget in a few weeks. It may play well on the campaign trail, but it could also come with some downsides — and some risks. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Mayor Olivia Chow is proposing a hike to the land transfer tax for super-high-priced homes, starting with houses sold for more than $3 million. She says a similar hike in 2024 affected just 2% of homebuyers but generated $138 million in new revenue. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #360! December is here, and so is LOBBYIST WATCH. This month’s edition features the lobbying debut of Waymo, plus notes on a banned construction company, falling glass, and next-gen litter bins. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/waymo-look...

It’s an annual tradition over in @spacingradio.bsky.social: we’re talking transit! @graphicmatt.com and Tricia Wood join me to talk about the TTC, backlogs and logjams, the federal budget, and, of course, the Eglinton Crosstown. Check it out: spacing.ca/toronto/2025...

With a jam-packed calendar next week, I’ve got a special FREE edition of City Hall Watcher, looking at debates on density along avenues, parking signage, bike lanes, tourism, and whether we should be allowed to swear in parks. Share it with your pals. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/supersized...

My @thestar.com column this week: Toronto’s city manager says city services are improving in a lot of areas, but the data says city hall is still struggling with one really important metric — the dead raccoon test. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Good news, balloonists. The City of Toronto is proposing an amendment to the parks bylaw that’ll remove specific restrictions on flying hot air balloons in parks. The city says the balloons are "outdated technology” but that sounds like a challenge to me. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Check your inbox: it's City Hall Watcher #359! A look at how each ward is doing on housing starts — and whether councillors and MPPs in Toronto are on track to hit the provincial housing target by 2031. Also: a classic Ford fact-check. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/handing-ou...

My @thestar.com column this week: A third-party review says Toronto’s streetcars are among the slowest in the world. But they don’t have to be. Maintenace improvements, operational changes and a little political will could really speed things up. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #358! Your complete recap of last week’s Council meeting! I list the compromises made on corner stores, and try to solve the mystery of why Chow dissolved the parking board. Plus: quotable quotes! toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/council-co...

Toronto Council meets today! Let's experience it together. Mayor Olivia Chow has set an item about rental protections as her first key matter, so that'll be considered first. After that: snow. It'll stream live here. I'll note what's notable. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qGe...

Check your inbox: it’s City Hall Watcher #357! Your complete November 2025 Council meeting preview, with notes on debates coming this week about corner stores, tenant protections, encampments, our gifted Amsterdam bridge, and, of course, snow. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/council-lo...

My @thestar.com column: Gardiner Expressway construction getting done 18 months ahead of schedule is a big win for drivers. But I’ll hold off on celebrating until I see the city and Queen’s Park take lessons from the project and deliver big wins for transit riders too www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...