One of the first things Rob Ford did after becoming mayor was kill Transit City, but a coalition of councillors is attempting to resurrect the light rail transit (LRT) plan.

TTC chair Karen Stintz led the charge and got 23 councillors to sign a petition to hold a special meeting Wednesday to debate LRTs.

Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see the petition.

"Twenty-four people can sign whatever they want, it doesn't make it right," Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said.

Stintz wants the mayor to scrap his plan for a completely-underground Eglinton crosstown line running from Black Creek to Kennedy station. She wants that line to run at-grade between Laird Drive and Kennedy. She also wants to look at LRT lines on Finch Avenue West, Sheppard Avenue East and a revitalized Scarborough RT. The idea was first floated as the Transit City plan that had previously been approved for $8.4 billion in provincial funding.

Ford has also promised a privately-funded Sheppard subway extension.

Last week the chair of provincial transit agency Metrolinx sent the mayor and TTC chair a letter asking the city to confirm its transit plan.

“I will ask for a #Toronto City Council Special Meeting this week to respond to Metrolinx's letter regarding its transit projects,” Stintz tweeted Monday morning.

The province has since allocated funding to Ford’s underground Eglinton line plan.

"I think there's a desire to get on with the building of public transit. We need mobility in our city," Coun. Joe Mihevc said Monday. "People have been crying for that in the downtown area and especially in the suburbs of Toronto."

The Transit City agreement signed by the city and province in 2009 expires next month. The plan was crafted under former mayor David Miller and called for the construction of LRT lines across the city, including priority lines on Finch, Sheppard, an Eglinton crosstown route and an upgraded Scarborough RT. Future projects included lines along the waterfront, Jane, Don Mills and in Malvern.

Last month, Stintz put forward a compromise plan that would see the up to $2 billion saved from tunneling on Eglinton used to fund Ford’s Sheppard subway plan and for dedicated bus lanes on Finch Avenue.

Ford continues to insist Torontonians want subways. Underground transit was a key promise in his election campaign. Critics on council claim the light-rail option serves more people for less money.

On Monday, Holyday said subways are the best option because they are easier to maintain, they last longer and don't take up space on the roads.

"My concern is ... council might act in haste and make a decision without all of the information before them," he said at city hall Monday.

When asked about numerous reports and academics who've supported the LRT plan, Holyday says most of them opposed Ford from the beginning and takes their findings with "a grain of salt."

Stintz told the Globe and Mail she expects to be removed from her position as TTC chair.

This transit challenge against Ford comes just one day after he won a major victory by negotiating a tentative deal with the city’s outside workers’ union, CUPE 416.

Stintz Toronto Transit petition