Skip to content
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube
Ontario chamber of commerce logo.
  • Advocacy
    • Campaign Trail & Advocacy Updates – 2025 Federal Election
    • Ontario Competes
    • Our Publications
    • Ontario Economic Report
    • Ontario’s Mining Future 2030
    • Artificial Intelligence Hub
    • Economic Reconciliation Initiative
    • Housing Affordability Initiative
    • Policy Brief Series
  • Councils
  • Events
    • Advocacy Day
    • Annual General Meeting
    • Ontario Business Achievement Awards
    • Ontario Business Advisory Council
    • Ontario Economic Summit
    • Smart Growth Symposium
    • Webinars
  • Programs
    • Seeding Digital Skills
    • Skills Bridge
    • Talent Opportunities Program
    • Export and Trade
  • Membership
    • Affinity Programs
  • News
    • Media Releases
    • Policy Updates
    • Blogs
  • About
    • Contact
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Employment
    • Strategic Plan
A magnifying glass icon on a white background.
x
x
  • Advocacy
    • Campaign Trail & Advocacy Updates – 2025 Federal Election
    • Ontario Competes
    • Our Publications
    • Ontario Economic Report
    • Ontario’s Mining Future 2030
    • Artificial Intelligence Hub
    • Economic Reconciliation Initiative
    • Housing Affordability Initiative
    • Policy Brief Series
  • Councils
  • Events
    • Advocacy Day
    • Annual General Meeting
    • Ontario Business Achievement Awards
    • Ontario Business Advisory Council
    • Ontario Economic Summit
    • Smart Growth Symposium
    • Webinars
  • Programs
    • Seeding Digital Skills
    • Skills Bridge
    • Talent Opportunities Program
    • Export and Trade
  • Membership
    • Affinity Programs
  • News
    • Media Releases
    • Policy Updates
    • Blogs
  • About
    • Contact
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Employment
    • Strategic Plan
A man is riding a bike on a hill.

Inspiring Transit Ridership with Excellent Design

Special Guest Blog from Metrolinx

COVID-19 Information Tariff Resources
Navigating U.S. Tariffs
Become a Member
Become a Member >
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube

Blog

Inspiring Transit Ridership with Excellent Design

February 21, 2018

Long before the first shovels ever break ground, design excellence is being fully baked into new transit facilities ultimately ensuring Metrolinx builds transit ridership and community pride. For transit builders like Metrolinx it’s more than just good design – it’s a real, tangible commitment to design excellence that catalyzes urban growth and ensures public dollars produce thoughtful and cost-effective results.

But that’s just the start of what Metrolinx’s Design Excellence program will bring to projects across our region. It brings sensible urban design that supports the community where projects are being built. In essence, this investment in design thinking spurs growth, increases building sustainability, durability, and vital lifespan, increases ridership, improves passenger comfort, safety and pride in transit, and reduces maintenance costs.

As a strong supporter of design excellence, Metrolinx has brought to the forefront resources and policies that guide infrastructure using a design excellence lens, through a variety of documents that help to shape project builds. Through the Eglinton LRT Design Excellence Principles document, Metrolinx worked with stakeholders to include design excellence as a key requirement of Project Specific Output Specifications (PSOS) and bid evaluation, and effectively established clear design criteria on which to assess bid compliance, and ultimately project execution.

As a result of these new criteria, which resulted from extensive collaboration with stakeholders, the Crosstown line will have new and identifiable station buildings that support city building, clear signage and wayfinding, streetscaping to beautify the neighbourhood – it will feature trail and pedestrian connections, including bike lanes, and outdoor platforms with built-in snow melting that will not only reduce snow clearing costs, but reduce the need for salt. The Davenport Diamond overpass is another example of how design and design excellence can help Metrolinx connect with people living in communities and bring many public realm improvements. This project, which will allow for more service on the Barrie line, initially caused some anxiety with local residents given its size and proximity to residences. Thanks to the hard work of both staff and the community, the benefits being proposed have changed the tone and feelings about the project. The public realm improvements for this project also include a significant integrated art piece commissioned for the elevated rail portion.

Although historically design excellence has not been a core component of the transit industry in Ontario, in this major regional transportation expansion, Metrolinx, with strong support from Infrastructure Ontario, has made great strides to change this by incorporating the concepts of design excellence in architecture, interior, urban and landscape design in the development of its transit projects.

It’s clear that design excellence goes beyond the visual – it knits together all aspects that make an effective transit system that is customer friendly and sets a high-standard for the traveller experience, and the adjacent community. Improving the quality of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture throughout the regional transit system, helps to deliver a higher quality, seamless experience that makes transit the preferred mode – a commitment that Metrolinx strives to continue to meet.

Metrolinx has partnered with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce for a series of three guest blogs.  

Previous

Metrolinx’s Safety Commitment – Second to None

Next

How Creating an Accessible Ontario Affects Your Business

Follow Us

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube

Site Nav

  • Advocacy
  • Events
  • Programs
  • Membership
  • News
  • About
  • Contact

Receive Updates

Subscribe to our mailing list and stay up to date on everything with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce

Subscribe Now
PREMIER MEMBERS
A purple and green logo on a black background. Atkins reals logo on a white background. A green logo on a black background. A teal color with a white background. A blue and green logo with a cross in the middle. A blue bell logo on a white background. Rbc bank of canada logo. A blue and white logo with a black background. A blue and gray logo with a blue and gray background. Chambers of commerce group insurance plan logo. Rr america logo on a black background. The cn logo on a black background. Canadian fuels association logo. A logo with a red, orange, and yellow background. Mccarthy tetrault logo on an orange background. The meridian logo on a black background. A black and white photo of a man and a woman. A blue and red logo with the word mcdonald's. Bruce power innovation at work logo. The logo for the ontario medical association. The power corporation of canada logo. The lily logo on a black background. Fresh intelligence logo on a black background. A colorful logo with the word mcdonald's on it. A black and yellow logo with a yellow arrow. Waste Connections of Canada A blue logo with the word cogeco on it. A blue and orange logo with the number 5 on it. The canadian maple leaf logo on a black background. A logo with an orange and black background. Imperial Oil logo A logo with a red and gray background. GSK's logo The university of cleveland college of business and economics logo. The logo for luna feel the power. A red and black logo on a black background. Tln media group logo. 404 etr express rail route logo. The logo for astrezeca. Biomarin logo on a black background. The logo for the board of canadian registered safety professionals. A green, blue, and yellow logo. A blue and white logo with a blue background. Magna logo on a black background. Pfizer logo Servicenow logo on a black background. Canada life logo on a black background. Northbridge insurance logo on a black background. A green logo with the word mnp. Tc energy logo on a white background. Destination northern ontario logo. The interac logo with a hand on it. A thin red line on a black background. The cadillac fairview logo. Meta logo. Beer canada logo on a white background. Cibc logo with a canadian maple leaf. The logo for port montreal. The federation of rental housing providers of ontario logo. The logo for bennett jones. Kpmg logo on a white background. Agnico eagle logo. The logo for colleges colleges ontario. Leger 360

Ontario Chamber of Commerce © 2025 | Privacy Policy | Service Standard | Employment Opportunities
The OCC is an accredited chamber of commerce