Subject: City of Brampton…

Subject: City of Brampton Response to ERO 025-1140: Amendments to the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act

To Whom It May Concern,
The City of Brampton appreciates the opportunity to provide comments in response the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act as introduced through Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025.
The City of Brampton appreciates the Province’s efforts to streamline transportation project delivery and improve coordination between provincial and municipal partners. Efficient and well-integrated corridors are essential to supporting housing, economic development, and multimodal mobility across Ontario.
The proposed amendments to the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act (PTHIA) expand the Minister’s authority over provincially significant transportation corridors, including the ability to supersede municipal standards and manage permitting, right-of-way activities, and data-sharing requirements. While these changes may improve coordination and expedite provincial projects, they also represent a significant shift in local oversight and could affect municipal implementation of Complete Streets, active transportation, and public-realm improvements.
For Brampton, maintaining the ability to design safe, accessible, and context-sensitive streets is critical. The City’s recently endorsed Mobility Plan and ongoing update to its standard drawings are grounded in Complete Streets principles that prioritize walking, cycling, transit, and safety for all road users. A harmonized provincial standard that does not reflect these principles risks limiting Brampton’s ability to implement Vision Zero, active transportation targets, climate adaptation measures, and its broader city-building objectives.
The City also notes the need for additional clarity on proposed provisions related to rapid transit, public transportation systems, and standards for the safety and mobility of people and goods. These elements will directly influence local planning, capital coordination, and network integration.
Recommendations to the Province
The City of Brampton respectfully recommends that the Province:
1. Ensure Alignment With Complete Streets
Develop any harmonized provincial road standard in a manner consistent with municipal Complete Streets objectives, enabling safe, multimodal, and context-sensitive corridor design.
2. Preserve Municipal Flexibility
Provide a streamlined process for non-standard design solutions, recognizing that most major road projects include constraints requiring context-specific approaches.
3. Clarify Scope for Transit and Goods Movement
Provide clear definitions and application guidance for proposed standards related to rapid transit, public transportation systems, and the safety and mobility of people and goods.
4. Support Municipal City-Building Objectives
Ensure that municipalities retain the authority to implement urban-design, public-realm, and climate-resilience measures that are integral to local planning frameworks such as Brampton’s Mobility Plan.
5. Engage Municipalities in Regulation Development
Collaborate closely with municipalities to ensure that future standardized road construction regulations balance provincial efficiencies with local operational realities and infrastructure priorities.
Please do not hesitate to contact the City should further discussion or technical input be required.

Yours truly,

Steve Ganesh, MCIP, RPP
Commissioner, Planning, Building and Growth Management
Corporation of the City of Brampton
steve.ganesh@brampton.ca