Danforth Line 2 Scarborough Subway Extension

[sixrings]

My last post was Monday and had nothing to do with you. Now I know you're sensitive but if you're this sensitive you may need actual help. I'm sorry I have been such a detriment to your mental well being. Sincere apologize.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Smarttrack has a bit of a case for the bump in priority. But it could still get pounded in the election for the optics of collusion and the fact Smartrack is a fraction of what it was sold make It an easy target.

I think smart track is still a hard sell as there are so many unknowns to it like what route it will take, how much it will cost, what fare structure it will use. I don't think it can sevive if John Tory doesn't get elected or if there is nothing to show in his next term in office.

 

[micheal_can]

I think smart track is still a hard sell as there are so many unknowns to it like what route it will take, how much it will cost, what fare structure it will use. I don't think it can sevive if John Tory doesn't get elected or if there is nothing to show in his next term in office.

I still don't understand what the difference between Smart track and GO RER is.

 

[OneCity]

I think smart track is still a hard sell as there are so many unknowns to it like what route it will take, how much it will cost, what fare structure it will use. I don't think it can sevive if John Tory doesn't get elected or if there is nothing to show in his next term in office.

Agree, Smarttrack lives only with Tory as Mayor. Saying that it will not be an easy feat to unseat Tory in the next election.

I still don't understand what the difference between Smart track and GO RER is.

The promise of a TTC fare I believe and station locations

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

I still don't understand what the difference between Smart track and GO RER is.

Me either. I think the problem is also there are so many promises about both of them that nobody really gets what either is. Like for example they keep talking about TTC prices for smart track with all of the studies done but there is no actual indication of who will run it and if that will actually be the case

 

[OneCity]

Me either. I think the problem is also there are so many promises about both of them that nobody really gets what either is. Like for example they keep talking about TTC prices for smart track with all of the studies done but there is no actual indication of who will run it and if that will actually be the case

GO RER is straightforward but with Smarttrack we are forced to accept on blind faith that well have a TTC fare and considering the erosion in stops and frequency since Tory's election day. Certainly not clear and hard to have confidence it will be anything more than a GO station if new stops do open

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Agree, Smarttrack lives only with Tory as Mayor. Saying that it will not be an easy feat to unseat Tory in the next election.

As much as I dislike him I would vote for him over a Ford any day.

The promise of a TTC fare I believe and station locations

The problem with that one there isn't anything to back it up other then a study that was done that people would use it if they charged TTC prices. I'm not sure if Metrolinx would really want to run something like that if they couldn't care by distance. Another thing if you make all of RER/ Smart track in Toronto TTC fares do you do the same for Go transit or does it remain with zones in Toronto.

 

[OneCity]

As much as I dislike him I would vote for him over a Ford any day.


The problem with that one there isn't anything to back it up other then a study that was done that people would use it if they charged TTC prices. I'm not sure if Metrolinx would really want to run something like that if they couldn't care by distance. Another thing if you make all of RER/ Smart track in Toronto TTC fares do you do the same for Go transit or does it remain with zones in Toronto.

Agree with both points. But if Ford runs or anyone else runs on adding a Lawrence stop to the SSE and killing Smartrack I could see it garnering some support in Scarborough. I said before the wild card for Tory was the Eglinton East LRT and he never received a funding commitment from the Liberals, so that could affect him as well as far as Scarborough support goes if another candidate offers a better subway plan. Even with the questions over Smartrack the overall plan for Eglinton East, SSE, Lawrence & Finch Smartrack, with further study on Sheppard is not a bad bigger picture plan whatsoever. But if he's attacked on what's funded in combination with an added subway stop, it could possibly put a dent in his eastern support.

 

[kEiThZ]

If all that comes out of Smart Track is better RER service for the 416 and full TTC fare integration, it'll be more useful than anything GO has done of the 416 in decades.

They need a station on Lawrence. I can't see how they can cancel the RER station and not add the subway station.

 

[OneCity]

If all that comes out of Smart Track is better RER service for the 416 and full TTC fare integration, it'll be more useful than anything GO has done of the 416 in decades.

They need a station on Lawrence. I can't see how they can cancel the RER station and not add the subway station.

The kicker is Tory has supported both stops recently

 

[Johnny Au]

Metrolinx can get a Kirby station.

All Metrolinx has to do is to sell all advertising rights within Kirby station to whichever company owns the rights to the Kirby video game franchise and the rights can shift anytime there's a new owner (the current owner is HAL Laboratory, which is very closely affiliated with Nintendo), until the Kirby franchise enters public domain in Canada.

Del Luca would invite someone dressed as a Kirby mascot for the groundbreaking and for opening. It would be sponsored by Nintendo of Canada.

 

[Rainforest]

Well, their reason for "doubting" the Lawrence East GO station is doubtful on its own.

They say that stopping at Lawrence East will slow down the service and reduce the ridership by making it less attractive. As if all trains have to stop at Lawrence East.

Meanwhile, the space isn't that tight. With the removal of SRT, Lawrence station can be built with 4 tracks. Two for SmartTrack trains that stop there, and two passing tracks for longer range RER trains that serve Markham.

With the TTC fare, or even a small surgarge ($1 ?) over the TTC fare, surely that service will attract more than a few riders transferring from the Lawrence bus.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

They say that stopping at Lawrence East will slow down the service and reduce the ridership by making it less attractive. As if all trains have to stop at Lawrence East.

If you reduce RER frequencies at Lawrence East, you reduce the attractiveness and ridership of the station, which can cause a further net ridership loss on the RER system overall. If I'm going to have to wait 15 to 20 mins for a train, most of the time it'll be faster to take the bus to Kennedy.

 

[W. K. Lis]

From this link:

How chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat tried to stop the Scarborough subway

As the top bureaucrat announces her departure from city hall, the untold story of how she tried but failed to prevent what’s been called the city’s biggest transit “boondoggle” can be found in her email inbox

In the lead-up to a crucial vote during which city council flip-flopped on transit plans to approve a multibillion-dollar subway in Scarborough, Jennifer Keesmaat went on the warpath.

In July 2013, the progressive chief planner — whose departure after five years at the helm was announced on Monday — was trying to make it known to anyone who would listen that a seven-stop light-rail line the province had already agreed to pay for, and the city had already approved, was still the better option.

Hundreds of pages of emails obtained by the Star through freedom of information requests over the past two years show how Keesmaat became the subway’s strongest critic on staff and tried — but ultimately failed — to prevent what some have called the biggest boondoggle of Toronto transit politics.

The number of reasons why the three-stop subway was a bad idea added up, Keesmaat agreed in one such email, to an “embarrassment of riches.”

The push to build a subway in Scarborough was one of the most controversial projects advanced under Keesmaat’s tenure at city hall, one that has complicated her legacy as a progressive city-builder. A compromise plan she later moved under Mayor John Tory today continues to unravel.

This is the untold story of how she tried behind the scenes to prevent the subway from being approved in the first place...

 

[amnesiajune]

I still don't understand what the difference between Smart track and GO RER is

Me either. I think the problem is also there are so many promises about both of them that nobody really gets what either is. Like for example they keep talking about TTC prices for smart track with all of the studies done but there is no actual indication of who will run it and if that will actually be the case.

GO RER is the provincial government's plan to provide relatively frequent two-way service throughout the day on most Go Transit lines. SmartTrack, at this point, is really more of a political campaign by the municipal government for Go Transit to improve service and lower costs in Toronto. Nobody wants the TTC to run a special "SmartTrack" train or have a separate Toronto-only service offered by Go Transit. Ideally it would just mean several new stops (which Go Transit and the city have already agreed to build) and inclusion in the TTC fare system (which is still on the whiteboard).