M II A II R II K
Senior Member
James: Streetcar plan takes speed out of ‘rapid’ transit
Apr 05 2010
By Royson James
Read More:[/B] http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ttc...reetcar-plan-takes-speed-out-of-rapid-transit
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In the wake of disappointment over the delays of some of the Transit City streetcar lines — Finch and Eglinton and one out to Malvern — proponents have been boosting the impact of the projects, sometimes with claims that are debatable. Transit City is not a rapid transit plan. It’s an environmentally sensitive plan. There’s nothing rapid about St. Clair or Spadina. They are comfortable. They move on schedule. But they are not fast. And a streetcar line from Highway 27 to Yonge St. won’t be dashing along, either. The first acknowledgement should be this: A streetcar network is second-best. It is being proposed because we don’t have the money to do better and our political leaders are not bold enough to tax us to generate the funds or innovative enough to seek other funding options with the private sector.
Many citizens are willing to settle for second-best because the ideal seems so impossibly difficult. But show citizens a subway building plan and the mayor can have $100 in annual licence renewal fees. There will be weeping and wailing, but the cause is just. Yes, the plan should be accompanied by zoning changes that push intensification along the routes — carefully and sensitively, but pushed ahead, and above the howls of those who want to stand still and not accommodate a more densely populated city. Yes, build it one station a year for 20 or 30 years.
Yes, finish the Sheppard Stub-way, east to the Scarborough Town Centre and west to the Downsview station to complete a loop with the Yonge-University and the Bloor-Danforth lines. That means we’d be able to travel around three-quarters of the city by subway, and jump off on extensions to the outer reaches. There seems to be a desire for rapid transit along Eglinton, as well. So, go to it. And the so-called Downtown Relief line in the east-midtown may be a good idea as well.
But don’t tell us that residents in northwest Toronto are now taking three buses over two hours to get to work and hold up the proposed Finch streetcar line as a solution. Commuters may save a few minutes, but it won’t take them long to be dissatisfied with the small, incremental improvement.
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Apr 05 2010
By Royson James
Read More:[/B] http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ttc...reetcar-plan-takes-speed-out-of-rapid-transit
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In the wake of disappointment over the delays of some of the Transit City streetcar lines — Finch and Eglinton and one out to Malvern — proponents have been boosting the impact of the projects, sometimes with claims that are debatable. Transit City is not a rapid transit plan. It’s an environmentally sensitive plan. There’s nothing rapid about St. Clair or Spadina. They are comfortable. They move on schedule. But they are not fast. And a streetcar line from Highway 27 to Yonge St. won’t be dashing along, either. The first acknowledgement should be this: A streetcar network is second-best. It is being proposed because we don’t have the money to do better and our political leaders are not bold enough to tax us to generate the funds or innovative enough to seek other funding options with the private sector.
Many citizens are willing to settle for second-best because the ideal seems so impossibly difficult. But show citizens a subway building plan and the mayor can have $100 in annual licence renewal fees. There will be weeping and wailing, but the cause is just. Yes, the plan should be accompanied by zoning changes that push intensification along the routes — carefully and sensitively, but pushed ahead, and above the howls of those who want to stand still and not accommodate a more densely populated city. Yes, build it one station a year for 20 or 30 years.
Yes, finish the Sheppard Stub-way, east to the Scarborough Town Centre and west to the Downsview station to complete a loop with the Yonge-University and the Bloor-Danforth lines. That means we’d be able to travel around three-quarters of the city by subway, and jump off on extensions to the outer reaches. There seems to be a desire for rapid transit along Eglinton, as well. So, go to it. And the so-called Downtown Relief line in the east-midtown may be a good idea as well.
But don’t tell us that residents in northwest Toronto are now taking three buses over two hours to get to work and hold up the proposed Finch streetcar line as a solution. Commuters may save a few minutes, but it won’t take them long to be dissatisfied with the small, incremental improvement.
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