February 9, 2015
Toronto Star

It’s widely understood that Toronto’s planned Scarborough subway extension is a bad deal for the city. But residents don’t yet know how rotten it really is. It’s time they found out.

Councillor Josh Matlow is endeavoring to fill in the blanks at a city council meeting starting on Tuesday. Relying on a rarely used provision in council’s rules, he has submitted five “administrative inquiries” demanding answers from staff on key subway-related questions. The public would be well-served if Matlow succeeds.

It’s remarkable how much still remains unknown about an ill-judged decision that had a fully funded, ultra-modern, seven-stop light-rail line replaced by a three-stop subway that will cost the average Toronto household a total of at least $1,200 in additional property tax.

February 9, 2015
Toronto Star
Jennifer Pagliaro

More than year after council voted to build a subway instead of light rail in Scarborough, it remains unclear how many people will actually ride it and what it will cost to operate.

But on Monday, Mayor John Tory said he wants stay the course on the subway plans, brushing off questions over a lack of information ahead of s council meeting this week.

“I’m committed to is the present plan for the Scarborough subway, I believe it is the right thing to do,” Tory, who promised to make the subway a priority during the campaign, told reporters after touring a TTC maintenance facility Monday. “I don’t want to re-open this debate and go back to do what we do so well in this city — which is debate things to death.”

February 5, 2015
Toronto Sun
Shawn Jeffords

TORONTO - The controversial Scarborough subway project will be back on the docket at city council next week, with one of the project’s opponents demanding answers to key questions about ridership and financial viability.

Councillor Josh Matlow, who represents Ward 22 (St. Paul’s), has asked for clarification on a number of aspects of the planned project from city staff in a series of five so-called “administrative inquiries.”

He said he hopes that those questions will help provide councillors with key pieces of information on the three-stop subway project.

“Let’s get real,” Matlow said. “Let’s have this conversation based on facts and then take action based on facts. So my intent is not to re-open this debate. My intent is to get transit to as many Scarborough residents as possible at the quickest possible date.”

February 5, 2015
The Globe and Mail
Oliver Moore

Only a bit late for Groundhog Day, the biggest transit battles of Toronto’s last council term are about to pop up again.

A light rail project in the city’s northwest and subways for Scarborough will both be on the table at next week’s council meeting, according to the agenda published Thursday.

Councillor Josh Matlow put forward a series of “administrative inquiries” that demand answers from the city manager about the viability and logic of an extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway line farther into Scarborough. Among them, he wants to know how much the city has budgeted for the sunk cost in return for assuming the project, a secret figure that insiders peg at close to $85-million.

The city assumed responsibility for these costs when it voted to turn the provincially funded LRT into a subway. The city has balked at the bill presented by the regional transit agency Metrolinx, insisting it should be smaller.

January 23, 2015

Toronto Star

Jennifer Pagliaro

Councillors say they have been kept in the dark for more than a year about the costs of cancelling the Scarborough LRT, after the city has already budgeted for what could be $75 million owed to the province.

Councillor Josh Matlow, a vocal opponent of the Scarborough subway, said council was never briefed on the real cost of doing an about-face on light rail.

“I’ve been asking for a lot of information for a long time that was never forthcoming,” he said Friday. “I think the public should be very concerned about the dearth of accountability and transparency.”

January 5, 2015
Dandyhorse Magazine
Jenna Campbell

UPDATE: The report back on lower speed limits from transportation services will now be brought to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee in April. The City needs perform further analysis in light of some potential Provincial legislation.

The death of a seven-year-old girl who was struck by a van last July has been the catalyst for city Councillors to push forward new safety measures to make Toronto’s streets safer. It has also spurred the community-run Leaside “Kids at Play” signs movement, which has since spread across the city.

Councillor Josh Matlow, (Ward 22, St. Paul’s), is pushing for lowering the speed limit to 30 km/h on all residential roads across Toronto. Lower speed limits would save lives as Toronto’s “Road to Health” report on pedestrian safety recently noted: A pedestrian hit by a vehicle travelling at 50 km/h has an 85 per cent chance of dying, while a pedestrian struck by a vehicle at 30 km/h has a 5 per cent chance of dying.

January 6th, 2015

City News

Cynthia Mulligan

A crackdown is coming for private condo developers who block a lane of traffic during construction, which contributes to massive gridlock on downtown streets.

Mayor John Tory, who has pledged to tackle the city’s congestion, says developers have taken advantage of the privilege for too long.

“They may not need to close these lanes at all,” he said. “They’ve been allowed to do so in the City of Toronto so of course they’ve taken advantage of that.”

Currently there are more than 1,000 construction projects across the city that are blocking live lanes of traffic and sidewalks.

Tory isn’t the only one demanding a change to this practice.

Coun. Josh Matlow introduced a motion at city council last August, asking for developers to either pay significantly more to block the lanes or have them work within their own property lines.

December 30, 2014
Toronto Star
Katrina Clarke

Genteel green space coveted by the city was sold off before the city made an offer, former leaders say, but Councillor Josh Matlow smells something “fishy.

December 12, 2014
City Centre Mirror
Justin Skinner

A year after being shut down due to an ammonia leak, midtown Toronto’s Hodgson ice rink is back up and running better than ever.

Even prior to the leak, which would have posed serious health and safety problems for families had the rink not been shut down, Hodgson was in dire need of repairs.

“It was 30-year-old infrastructure and it was failing,” said Ward 22 councillor Josh Matlow, who worked to mobilize the community and broker a deal to get the rink up and running when the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) was talking about shutting it down completely.

“(Last year) the TDSB was giving the city a hard time about even renewing the lease there,” Matlow said.

Thanks to the community’s efforts, and with help from TDSB Trustee Shelley Laskin, the midtown rink was completely rebuilt, allowing local leagues and families to continue to enjoy the facility. Two ice pads will allow for permitted league games and shinny games or free skates to take place simultaneously.