News   Dec 20, 2024
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G&M on the "Madrid Miracle"

So it will be 10 years til this extension opens, and then what..

another 10 years after that for the completion of Sheppard, and then like 30 years from now to replace the RT.

And nothing else at all constructed.
 
What we need right now is another announcement for a subway extension to show the public that the TTC is committed to expanding. The one line extention to the burbs won't do it.
 
I suspect with next year's pre-election budget we get some movement on SRT or the Sheppard line.
 
Ed:

I suspect with next year's pre-election budget we get some movement on SRT or the Sheppard line.

They've funded the SRT replacement EA to the tune of 1M - so the intent appears to be there (and recall the talk of EA being a 2 year process.)

I am surprised no one seems to be talking about that on here.

AoD
 
There are certain things the TTC does well but really I am concerned that they might need a complete overhaul of their management, leadership and vision. There is no doubt that there isn't the public support for agressive expansion a la Madrid but nor is their an effective plan or leadership to cultivate such support. Madrid is far more dense then Toronto, I recall visiting booming Madrid in 2001, the suburban housing tracts seemed to all be 4-5 storey buildings. The trouble is if we care to see more people living in the GTA we need to act now because working in 10 year intervals is not sufficient. Or perhaps it doesn't matter because our lack of action will render projected growth targets meaningless because far fewer people will end up moving here.
 
I understand the criticisms here, but after using Vancouver's and Montreal's transit systems recently, I have a new appreciation for the TTC.
 
I don't think many people would argue with the notion that the TTC is excellent at its core competency, which is the day-to-day running of an extremely efficient, but also very basic (both in nature and extent) subway network. The defficiencies are in vision: thinking big and creatively about expansion, the incorporation of new technologies, etc.

This is of course a product of the culture of poverty left over from the 90s, though I think it will slowly change. As for a DRL or something like it (ie the Weston line), it baffles me that something so practical has been largely ignored for so long. But between the Expo line proposal and the Weston campaign, should it gather any steam, the DRL could be back on the frontburner before we know it.
 
Perhaps that it what the GTTA will be good for? An organization that is less bogged down in day-to-day operations so it has the opportunity to dosome more ambitious planning.
 
I understand the criticisms here, but after using Vancouver's and Montreal's transit systems recently, I have a new appreciation for the TTC.

What is wrong with Montreal. There "subway" cars might be smaller -- but the network is more extensive (not just east-west - north-south).
 
This is where the GTTA could step in, yes...though I fear that such an organization will be more interested in, say, a $4Bn subway linking Bolton to Scarborough than in knitting Toronto together.
 
After Vaughan, Sheppard and Scarborough I would suspect the next priority may be DRL since the loads on Yonge would surely have increased even more by then or perhaps Eglinton West
 
"What is wrong with Montreal. There "subway" cars might be smaller -- but the network is more extensive"

Montreal's system is 64km long, while Toronto's is 70km.

There's much more to the assessment of a transit system than the subway length anyway. We really are way too obsessed with them in Toronto.
 
What is wrong with Montreal.
That trains run on average every 12 to 15 minutes outside of rush hour.

That seems like an awfully long time even compared to 2am Sheppard line service (6 minutes).

There is a reason why their bus routes are so popular. In many cases they're faster for short trips when you factor in wait times.
 

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