kEiThZ
Superstar
Most of Scarborough is also no where near the Scarborough Subway alignment, alas.
Where's that coming from? SC is decently central to most of northern Scarborough. Especially if you consider the population centre.
And this debate on ridership does actually bring up a good point. Nobody ever discusses closing down low ridership stations elsewhere in the city, because the need to maintain a whole network is obvious. Yet, people find it controversial to extend the subway 1-2 stops where the that rickety old SRT is generating ridership just below the subway threshold?
The LRT might have had better ridership. But in essence this debate is as much about quality over quantity. You know how somebody at Sheppard is sick of standing from Sheppard to Union during rush hour? You know how those North Yorkers hate the idea of extending the subway to RHC because it'll overcrowd the line? That's exactly how people in Scarborough view that transfer at Kennedy. And they hate it.
My wife, new to Scarborough, by virtue of marriage would rather ride the car till Downsview and grab the subway from there than get on McCowan and transfer at Kennedy. She's willing to put up with an extra 20 mins commute to avoid that transfer. And she's somebody who never lived in Scarborough before and had to put up with it daily.
All that said the LRT could have been sold. Had it come with something like GO RER or Smart Track earlier. Tell people that instead of transferring to Line 2, they'd be getting on GO at Kennedy for a faster commute. Make it a choice between comfort and speed. Instead the choice was between comfort and a marginal improvement in commute time.
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