The tamer of the automobile?

In some ways Metrolinx chair Rob MacIsaac seems like an unusual choice to lead the GTA to a new era of rapid transit.

He was mayor of Burlington for nearly a decade, a west-end greater Toronto city that is dominated by single family homes and the cars that come with them.

While MacIsaac is officially independent the city he led is deeply Conservative; it now has a Conservative MPP, MP and mayor (Cam Jackson). This puts it at odds with the Liberal dominated Greater Toronto Area and a Liberal led provincial government.

But despite MacIsaac’s grounding in a city known to be car friendly and tory blue, Ontario Liberal transportation minister Donna Cansfield has put him in charge of creating a transit plan that will see over $17 billion in new provincial funds be used to build everything from light rail lines to rapid bus routes.

He faces a formidable challenge.

MacIsaac has to use the Liberal's new transit cash to create a transportation system that is so convenient and easy to use that it will get Toronto area residents out of their cars. A move that officials hope will improve the economy and environment, as well as alleviate road congestion.

To do that he has to broker differences between local politicians, help decide which transit projects get priority and negotiate the competing demands of residents in the 905 and 416.

But MacIsaac isn't sweating, at least not yet, in fact he’s taking on this task with zeal.

“My view is that Mississauga like many other cities in the Greater Toronto Area is going to have undergo a bit of shift in how people get around,” he said responding breathlessly to a question on building rapid transit on Dundas Street in Mississauga.

“We simply can’t build enough roads to accommodate all the cars that are coming."

Throughout the interview he is careful not to step on anyones toes. He points out several times that the City of Mississauga is the lead player when it comes to rapid transit on it's end of Dundas and will be responsible for running it.

MacIsaac found himself in the hot seat just two weeks earlier when Premier Dalton McGuinty suggested that Metrolinx could take over the TTC and possibly other transit agencies.

But while he's being cautious about not muscling in on any municipalities turf he makes one thing clear, transit planning is here to stay.

“Going forward we are devising a regional transportation plan for the whole greater Toronto and Hamilton area and we are currently working through the process of exactly what role we’ll play.”