Save Transit City Canvass!

[scarberiankhatru]

Over the course of the election I spoke to several hundred people about transit issue, and this isn't true at all. You just have to mention that LRT will cost them fewer tax dollars, and any preference for subway quickly vanishes.

Right, you're the only person who's spoken to people and your anecdotes equal truth. It's true. It's true of any transit, by the way. Of any infrastructure, really. Quickly and quietly is the way to get things built. I'm sure you said two sentences to people about LRT lines being cheap and got them to say "Yeah, okay!" but I could do the same thing and get people to agree with me about something else. That's what happens when 90% of people don't really know what the difference is. They are very easily swayed by "faster," "cheaper," "more reliable," etc. One thing else may benefit 100,000 people, but you can claim another thing will benefit them and they'll be all for it, until they forget about it as soon as you stop talking to them.

We're not spending fewer dollars on LRT, we're spending more. Over $3 billion on lines to Malvern. Eglinton is the most expensive thing ever built in Toronto. No one is saying let's build subways on every street in the city, but that's what light rail lobbyists are saying light rail is cheaper than. There's also the neglected issue of operating losses, which will arise with these LRT lines. It's an issue for something like the SRT because zero bus routes will be replaced by the SRT extension.

 

[rbt]

There's also the neglected issue of operating losses, which will arise with these LRT lines. It's an issue for something like the SRT because zero bus routes will be replaced by the SRT extension.

I'm not certain the LRT will have higher operating costs than the bus services they replace. Sheppard did due in large part to having manned stations and more space to clean. Eglinton wasn't expecting to have manned stations. Proof-of-payment enforcement is a new expense but the total number of people required during rush hour should be decreased significantly.

Is non-rush service increased enough to counteract rush savings?

 

[scarberiankhatru]

I'm not certain the LRT will have higher operating costs than the bus services they replace. Sheppard did due in large part to having manned stations and more space to clean. Eglinton wasn't expecting to have manned stations. Proof-of-payment enforcement is a new expense but the total number of people required during rush hour should be decreased significantly.

Is non-rush service increased enough to counteract rush savings?

Maybe. We'll have to see what kind of service standard gets applied. Also, what bus route changes are actually made, how many escalators Eglinton will have (that break down and need fixing), etc., etc.

The Sheppard subway only replaced 5km of Sheppard and then triggered enough ridership growth that the bus routes beyond the subway were just as busy as the 'busier' part that was replaced by the subway, so I doubt even a single operator would has been removed from the Sheppard corridor when the subway was built. Eglinton West might end up with fewer operators but Eglinton East has routes funneling that will remain.

The SRT won't be replacing any bus routes or probably even any part of any bus routes, though they might take about 2 operators off the Progress bus (which does nothing if they add 3 to the RT). We'll see.

 

[GenerationW]

Which is?

Thanks for playing, try the veal!