The Big Move

The Big Move is the regional transportation plan (RTP) published by Metrolinx for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) in Ontario, Canada. It makes specific recommendations for transit projects, resulting from seven "green papers" and two "white papers" released for public discussion. A draft RTP was released alongside draft investment strategy in September 2008. After a series of stakeholder consultations and public meetings, the final RTP was approved and published by Metrolinx on 28 November 2008. Since its publication, it has been Metrolinx's mandate to implement the RTP, which includes new and improved GO Transit service, local rapid transit, stations, and fare payment systems. History There was widespread consensus by community and business leaders in the GTHA that incremental change of the region's transportation system was insufficient, and that it needed a dramatic transformation to meet the needs of the 21st century. The regional transportation system needed to be effective, integrated, multi-modal, and funded in a sustainable way. In response to these concerns, the Government of Ontario created the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority in 2006, which became known as Metrolinx in December 2007. Metrolinx was given the mandate to develop and implement an integrated multi-modal transportation plan for the GTHA, and "The Big Move" plan was one of Metrolinx's first deliverables. It builds on the $11.5 billion MoveOntario 2020 commitment from the Government of Ontario announced on 15 June 2007, and includes new projects to support that initiative. An initial stage of the RTP process was to release a series of "green papers", documents covering key issues for the RTP. These green papers were developed and consulted upon in late 2007 and early 2008, with the purpose of presenting information on transportation trends, challenges and opportunities for the GTHA: Paper 1: Towards Sustainable transportation Paper 2: Mobility Hubs Paper 3: Active Transportation Paper 4: Transportation Demand Management Paper 5: Moving Goods and Services Paper 6: Roads and Highways Paper 7: Transit