Located immediately north of Toronto, York Region, with its nine local area municipalities has evolved to consist of a series of centres and corridors surrounded by the Urban Area and a number of rural towns, villages, and hamlets. York Region also contains some of the most significant and environmentally sensitive geological land forms in Ontario with 69 percent of its 1,776 square kilometre land base protected as natural and/or greenbelt areas. With its diverse communities, emerging urban centres, competitive industries, attractive natural environment, and strategic location in the GTHA, York Region is anticipated to reach 1.5 million residents and 780,000 jobs by 2031. This growth represents a significant growth from the one million residents and 490,000 jobs in York Region today. The Transportation Master Plan (TMP) Update was guided by an innovative study process to ensure that a more sustainable transportation system could be achieved to support this growth while recognizing the environmental, social, and economic challenges for a suburban municipality. Completion of the TMP Update with its integrated study process has allowed the Region to include key transportation planning policies and initiatives into the recently adopted Regional Official Plan (December 2009) for building cities and complete communities within the Region. This project was nominated for the TAC 2009 Sustainable Urban Transportation Award. For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD number E220308.
Abstract