Mayor Rob Ford has only himself to blame for Toronto city councillors rising in open revolt against his misguided public transit agenda.

Bravely led by Toronto Transit Commission chair Karen Stintz, a narrow council majority has signed a petition demanding a special meeting on Wednesday to reverse Ford’s subway plan.

Councillors are doing this for two reasons. First, Ford’s warped vision for the future is indefensible, proposing costly subways where they aren’t needed — and which the city can’t afford — while cancelling an already approved network of fully funded light rail lines. That waste of transit dollars and opportunities must be stopped.

But councillors aren’t just challenging an ill-judged subway plan. After all, the flaws in Ford’s approach were obvious a year ago when he declared the Transit City light rail network dead. What’s changed is that councillors have now endured a year-long dose of Ford’s governing style and they’re finally rebelling against his domineering, threats and refusal to compromise.

In short, this isn’t just about transit — it’s about 24 councillors rising up to reject a bully in order to promote what’s best for their city. It’s about democracy.

In Ford’s view, the only election that mattered was the one that put him in the mayor’s chair. But city council reigns supreme. That doesn’t stop effective mayors from carrying out their agenda — they know how to build coalitions.

This involves looking beyond a narrow circle of council cronies and reaching out to moderates and even opponents. Former mayor David Miller did this, for example, when he voted with right-wing councillors, including Ford, to ban corporate and union election donations. He and previous mayor Mel Lastman hardly ever lost a vote.

In contrast, after barely a year in office, Ford lost control of his most recent budget and now faces an unprecedented reversal of his transit agenda. Why? Because in both cases he refused to listen to council moderates who came to him with a face-saving compromise.

The mayor responded to their transit concerns with a photo-op touting subways, and Councillor Doug Ford weighed in with characteristic grace, stating that the TTC “needs a complete enema.”

Now the Ford administration is reaping the result of that attitude. The obvious way forward is to stop bullying, learn the art of compromise and starting building coalitions. In other words: Mr. Ford, be a mayor.