I went to Kitchener-Waterloo and
took pictures of ION LRT.
It's a LOT more like Crosstown than you think...
* Eglinton
Crosstown is an LRT
* Eglinton Crosstown has
surface sections.
* Kitchener-Waterloo use the
same vehicles as Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
* ION LRT also has long surface sections without crossings,
same as TTC Subway
*
Traffic separated. This is not slow TTC streetcar.
* ION LRT support
chaining into trains (2-vehicle consists, platforms are long enough)
*
Level boarding subway-style
*
All-doors open subway-style, 100% wheelchair accessible. Platforms are about double-curb-height.
*
No automatic wheelchair ramps needed like TTC new streetcars need them!
* ION planned
LRT speed is similar to TTC downtown subway thanks to automatic green lights for LRT.
Also, in other cities when I board a modern "wheel-on-wheel-off" LRT whose all doors open flush to platform (unlike any TTC streetcar routes) -- and zooms through good automatic green lights at intersections --
it feels like a 75% subway, 25% bus -- even though it goes through surface intersections. It definitely DOES NOT feel like a TTC streetcar experience. It feels faster and more subwaylike than even Spadina TTC which is often left waiting at red lights and still needs wheelchair ramps. Modern surface LRT stop design much more subway-feel with a fleet of simultaneous doors opening and fully-wheel-on accessible. Some LRT stops for ION (even ones on street) often look closely like TTC's surface subway stops!
Now imagine a 2-LRT consist instead with 100% perfect level boarding all-doors-automatic open. Real LRT's with good transit-priority green-light systems often only have to stop when it's at an LRT stop. Zoom, stop, all doors open, perfect level, all doors close, zoom to next stop. Even through intersections.
The "subway-feel" experience also includes the ability to stand while reading a newspaper, tablet, or texting/surfing on smartphone, you can stand on a modern smooth-running LRT without grabbing a pole, much like on the TTC subway. From Olden Days of reading newspaper to today's kids reading smartphones; you can see it happening at lot more often on the TTC subway or Spadina Streetcar (traffic separated, even if platforms aren't subway-style like for ION LRT) than on TTC buses. It is a much more comfortable ride for standees, at peak, especially older people who lose balance on a bus as it shifts around and accelerates/stops more unpredictably. The "BUS INSTEAD OF LRT" supporters needs to understand this, as well. Buses are important too; and LRT stops amplifies the ridership of nearby/connecting buses.
Of course, specific sections will be a little more slower -- turns in ION LRT especially nearer downtown -- will slow things down, but Finch West LRT, Crosstown LRT and Hamilton LRT are fairly straight-arrow LRTs -- and simplifies green-light transit-priority systems which doesn't work very well on TTC as in properly implemented, well-functioning LRT traffic priority systems. The fact that Eglinton Crosstown LRT has an underground section, definitely makes it feel MORE like a subway (of
underground parlance).
TL;DR: It is my experience that properly implemented modern surface sections of LRT's actually "feel" more like TTC subway rather than TTC streetcars. (performancewise, speed, boarding experience, dedicated lanes, no stopping except at stops thanks to good automatic green lights & farside platforms, etc) On some good surface LRT routes on roads, the only thing that doesn't feel subway-like is that it isn't underground.
see, I didn't use the word elevated 
