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News Roundup for August 23, 2024
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Spadina Subway Extension

ahrvojic:

Technically yes, though there are concerns such an agency, depending on its' governance model, would result in service biases one way or another.

Having a GTTA without a mirror organization for regional planning is somewhat questionable, IMO.

AoD
 
billonlogan:

To the contrary, they are not punished by the level of service, but the cost of the service. People who commute through the downtown should not have to pay the same amount as someone coming from outlying areas. Which is why zone fares make much more sense. Unless there is some societal change in land use planning, the current process will change very little.
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Of course they are being punished by differing levels of service as well - just think about how during rush hour people at certain downtown subway stations weren't able to get onto the train due to overcrowding. It doesn't matter if the absolute number of trains available remains the same when one can't get access to it.

Regarding zone fare - intuitively, it's totally right - but there are complicating factors. First, the relatively low cost of travelling from the burbs under the flat fare scheme is one incentive to use public transit; second, the inner suburban area serviced contains a significant number of low-income service workers who can ill afford increases in transit costs, and they have no viable alternatives.

A "better" (IMO) model for transit integration at the regional scale isn't to turn TTC into a regional service system, but to use GO as the trunk system upon which local transit feeds on and off.

AoD
 
Development-wise, it would also help a ton if the city encourages development along the older parts of the Spadina Line... make each station an area where developers can build condos, etc. That'll get ridership up.

If you look at the GoogleMaps of the area, the Allen Rd. is surrounded by single-family, car-driving homes. Not "urban" at all.
 
Now, such a repositioning of the TTC creates a dilemma, that is, local vs. regional service - and who should ultimately pay for that regional scheme (afterall, as it stands right now, the service is subsidized locally).
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Isn't this what the proposed GTTA is supposed to solve?

Regardless of political boundaries, transit has always been a regional concern and the current situation is simply ridiculous.
 
since you're basically "punishing" those living in dense, transit friendly areas in order to improve service to outlying, low density areas that can't be served efficiently.
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To the contrary, they are not punished by the level of service, but the cost of the service. People who commute through the downtown should not have to pay the same amount as someone coming from outlying areas. Which is why zone fares make much more sense. Unless there is some societal change in land use planning, the current process will change very little.
 
Most people in downtown Toronto will use public transit regardless of overcrowding or poor service. To make downtown more transit friendly defeats the purpose of solving gridlock and getting people downtown from the surrounding areas without increased congestion on the highways.
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Not sure I buy your total argument, but regardless, I live downtown and avoid many of the streetcar lines like the plague as it often takes 45 minutes (to an hour) to get from Parliament to Parkdale. Something is wrong with that situation as well.

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Regarding the impending York U annoucement, I'm cautiously optimistic about this extension. The Spadina line will now finally finish at a logical terminus and in the process will serve the second biggest auto trip generator in the G.T.A. Moreover, it will also create a regional transit hub for transit-starved York Region and make downtown T.O. that much more accessible to many (including those in the Jane & Finch corridor).

Indeed, there's probably more important things to spend $1.5 billion on transit-wise in this city, but being how political this process always is, I'll take what I can get. I think what's important now is to make sure land-use along the line drastically changes by the time trains start rolling up to York.
 
Dark:
I live downtown and avoid many of the streetcar lines like the plague as it often takes 45 minutes (to an hour) to get from Parliament to Parkdale.
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But, if it happens often and you have a car, would you drive this trip from Parliament to Parkdale?
 
This is great news! I think the Liberals have already earned my vote next election.
 
wylie knows what im talkin aboot. they should recycle that song for this line. :)
 
^ Note that this route would also make sense for those headed to U of T, as it would eliminate one transfer.
 
Coincidentally I was in the area of the proposed "Downsview Park" site (which will, no joke, certainly be a park of great significance in a hundred years). Commercial mailbox distributers aside, the area is so desolate that one could imagine a Hiroshima sized atomic blast would have surprisingly little effect. Ironically in the midst of the vast fields of nothing there were people waiting for the bus! If a cost saving measure to strip several 10s or 100 million of the budget cost is required I suggest they delay construction of this station.
 
Good news. I hope this is not a one-off, but rather a reinvestment into transit. So there will now be a station in 905land (just). Maybe this is just a sign of things to come. Maybe westward expansion of B-D into Mississauga isn't impossible?

I agree that Sheppard line should be extended westward to Yonge. There's just too much just dumping onto Yonge line. It seems silly not to connect it.

Also, with there being a Steeles West, I wonder when the day will be that we see a Steeles station at Yonge?
 
from just watching the CBC, i got the impression that the money might be used elsewhere because the ttc needs 700mil a year for repairs and other cash for expanding the LRT system.

are we getting our hopes up for nothing? :\
 
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