SashaLemon
Active Member
It's still North America, but Toronto is literally #2 in the US/Canada for least car dependent. (New York #1 of course.) Yes cars are still in big. We have suburban mayors still. We basically just need a North York line, and something in Etobicoke and Scarborough.University avenue and lakeshore are practically urban free ways as well. The point is the car is king in Toronto as well. You guys are burying a lrt in eglinton west because guess what the car is king. Sheppard east lrt is cancelled because car is king in Scarborough. Don’t act too pretentious. Toronto isn’t exactly old Quebec City. A large part of it is pretty dang car centric.
Also there are real advantages to having grade separation. The actual stupid thing is that it should of been elevated in the extension. And also in the east. Why build a line 70+% grade separated and then put it at grade? There goes the chance at making it automated...
So like, yeah, Toronto is working on it. One little surface LRT and a BRT line going the other way is not going to cut it. There basically needs to be a radical shift in what you can build. I'm talking doing something at the provincial level like they did in California with SB9 and SB10. That would help ALL of us build the density (or at least start to, there are some other laws we need.) that actually supports great public transit. I would like to see in the future, for example, Line 5 to MCC, maybe even Line 2 to MCC, why not. Build new light metros through, at the same time as this increasing density.
In the whole GTA!
Instead of Manhattanization, lets strive for Londonization! Average density of 5,666/km2. (Old Toronto is 1.4x as dense, York is 1.09x as dense, East York is almost spot on, North York would only have to increase by 1.15x. Just to give you an idea of the density I am suggesting.) Now as we are increasing this density we build out modern rapid transit lines. Which should be automated light metros since we are building them in the modern age. If you look at London, they have tube stations and lines all across their vast "suburbs". Not to mention the overground, the new Elizabeth Line...
It's not like we are a tiny region, the GTA has 6,712,341 people, compared to London's 9,002,488. Lets put the density in, house more people, and build transit!!
Plus mixed use, plus proper cycling stuff (London gets that wrong also), plus have bigger density around GO Stations....