And you people cannot seem to understand us "LRT-istas" are not against subways WHERE THEY CAN be justified.
Except that you are. The money being allocated to Transit City today could have been used to finance the start of planning/construction for a Downtown Relief Line today. Eglinton is already predicted to have a higher daily usage by 2031 (likely sooner) than either YUS extensions into York Region. Sheppard between Don Mills and Warden already sees high enough volume and peak hour frequency of bus traffic to justify below-grade traffic-free passage for riders. By prioritizing Transit City and the York Region YUS extensions ahead of the set out plans from 2003 (
http://www3.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_Planning/ridership_growth_strategy_2003.pdf), you've set the entire agenda back 15-20 years. None of Sheppard East east of McCowan, all of Finch West, all of the Waterfront and all of Jane Street were even considered as priority routes facing overcapacity issues in the foreseeable future.
I do not believe in building a subway network for the sake of building subways.
Neither does SOS. DRL and Eglinton are critically needed because of how difficult it is for users to commute across these corridors today, not some put-off future date.
It's a waste of money especially in areas where LRT can work fine. You guys cannot seem to understand this. Transit City, imprefect it may be, at least attempts to bring better service to most of the city.
Attempts to but doesn't. TC as originally proposed has shrunk dramatically in size and it's uncertain when it'll be completed in entirity. Taking a direct bus route from the far-flung ends of the city directly into the subway and now obstructing that directness with truncated LRT lines is not a viable solution. You'll force more commuters to take up driving.
Your idea backbone subway network totally ignores Northwest Toronto. Why should I go along with a plan like that? It's horrible. Toronto's system is woefullyinadequate because we create grandiose subway plans, build a fraction of the plan in a decade due to the reality of the costs and start over again!
Subways don't have to penetrate every nook and cranny of the city, particularly when trying to construct several lines simulteaneously. An Eglinton subway running north to reach the airport via Highway 27 and Dixon puts subway very closeby to most of NW Toronto's high density areas. Rejigging the 191 bus to serve Albion Mall then run up Kipling between Albion and Steeles would be a great way to minimize commutes for that high-density apartment community. And of course TYSSE will bring the subway as close as Jane/Steeles significantly reducing travel times from that end as well. What a lot of people in the inner-suburbs tend to forget is that it doesn't matter how quickly the subway can get you from the boonies to the downtown core, if once there you have to laywait unreliable streetcars while exposed to the elements.
The city finally comes up with a plan that will build decent transit to most parts of Toronto, and plan that can show that transit can be affordable, and you guys
Finally? All the City does is make grandiose plans. What the City did was lie to the citizenry when it lowballed how much Transit City would cost the taxpayer and now tells us that we're stuck with it no matter the cost. That 30kms of new subways could have been built for the same price is something not to be concealed from knowledge. Pitfield (and now Rossi) have come up with a feasible way to expand subways, bit by bit, such that in 30 years the sum of ongoing expansion creates an impressive system. Meanwhile we don't rest on our laurels, but at the same time don't invest in cost-prohibitive surface-rail that politicians will be reluntant to tear up as ridership exceeds the carrying capacity of light-rail. Why can't ROW and priority signaling for wheeled transit not work the same as for rails, realizing it is only a temporary solution until subways underneaths are finished building?
"Big Pieces" Your plan does not even include a extension to Steeles!, The fact that you think a subway to the Airport, and a Sheppard subway extension, both whose demand do not approach the justification for a subway are high priority tells me you do not really know what Toronto needs.
Except that there's no way the Province would sign off on a Steeles extension without running it miles into York Region where the daily boardings at some of the midway stops would make Bessarion look good. SOS delays Sheppard til phase II to avoid the likelihood of the City stubbing it for financial reasons prior to STC. It's full-length or bust. As for the airport, for all those European cities I'd imagine Miller, Giambrone and co. went to and patterned their Transit City model off of; I'd garner that the major urban centres that they overlooked in their survey had direct economy-fare underground subway or commuter rail ready to greet passengers the minute they've claimed their luggage.
Engineers have their strengths - but creativity isn't one of them. Planners have their strengths, but complex numerical models are not one of them!
