Sneak preview of the new Toronto Island ferry design, from Toronto Island Advisory Committee meeting today at City Hall.
The new ferries will more or less keep the iconic look we all know. All the existing ferries will be replaced in coming years; they are all far past their operational lifetime. There’s funding now for two boats, one for passengers only, the other for passengers and vehicles. Two more will come later. They are longer than the present ferries, about a metre wider, with greater capacity, and are designed to use the same docks.
The new passenger-only ferry will hold around 1300 people versus 800 or 900 now.
The passenger/vehicle ferry will hold around 650 people or more depending the number of vehicles. They will be electricity-diesel hybrids. Possibly we’ll see the first new ferry as early as 2021. Washrooms are on both floors. This passenger/vehicle ferry will be able to break ice only to some extent, as an ice breaker ferry designed to break thick ice would be prohibitively expensive.
City Council may have to decide within eighteen months. The waterfront is completely different from fifty years ago; does an airport on the island still make sense? A four-briefing note on where things stand.
We held our Annual General Meeting on December 12, 2023. Thanks to everyone who attended.
Ed Hore gave an overview of what's been happening. Here's the written version.
A November 20, 2023 story in the Toronto Star "Billy Bishop Airport needs longer runways. That may reopen the debate about its future" quoted WfA Chair Ed Hore and linked to his paper Does Toronto Need Two Airports?