Toronto Ontario Line 3 | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx

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At the same time, they were pushing Metrolinx to move DRL from the 25-year plan to the 15-year plan.
Miller's obvious goal in moving up the DRL was to stem York Region's seemingly rapid progress with the Yonge extension, which Miller had helped along by getting council to approve a Yonge EA, which was likely done by Miller at the request of the province, which had the leverage of $12 billion in transit funding already promised to Miller. None of these things happened in a vacuum.
Still, had they stuck to the original schedule, Transit City would have been long-since finished.
They who exactly? TC's two main proponents didn't even run in 2010, and the heir apparent finished a distant third in the mayoral race. As for getting anywhere close to a transit plan's original schedule, that's a really nice fantasy.

Fact remains council didn't truly identify the DRL as a Toronto transit priority until Rob Ford's powers were neutered in 2012.
 
They who exactly? TC's two main proponents didn't even run in 2010, and the heir apparent finished a distant third in the mayoral race. As for getting anywhere close to a transit plan's original schedule, that's a really nice fantasy.
You can't discuss a plan 2 decades ago to build DRL after Transit City without putting in perspective.what the then plan was for Transit City completion.
 
You can't discuss a plan 2 decades ago to build DRL after Transit City without putting in perspective.what the then plan was for Transit City completion.
What plan to build the DRL after Transit City? Giambrone made it clear it in 2009/10 that it would only be considered after TC was completed. That was basically pushing the DRL 15 or so years down the road, and by then it would only be a definite maybe.
 
What plan to build the DRL after Transit City? Giambrone made it clear it in 2009/10 that it would only be considered after TC was completed. That was basically pushing the DRL 15 or so years down the road, and by then it would only be a definite maybe.
So now it's 20+ years down the road from 2008?

Which Plan? It was in the province's 2008 Regional Transportation Plan (The Big Move), developed in consultation with the city, and approved by council - with the caveat that the DRL be expedited.

 
Ah, I remember very dismissive statements out of the Miller camp regarding the DRL.

I specifically remember that Miller made a point to say that the new streetcars were the capacity equivalent of a new subway line downtown. Miller made it abundantly clear a new subway downtown wasn't his priority. It seemed as though he thought we didn't need it, and/or couldn't afford it. He also seemed to have an obsession with urbanizing the outer boroughs. To think the Transit City proposal came with no new core downtown routes seems strange to think about today.
 
Noticed environmental monitoring equipment by Metrolinx on the front lawn of 7 Gertrude Pl. Didn't take any photos due to privacy reasons.
 
Ah, I remember very dismissive statements out of the Miller camp regarding the DRL.

I specifically remember that Miller made a point to say that the new streetcars were the capacity equivalent of a new subway line downtown. Miller made it abundantly clear a new subway downtown wasn't his priority. It seemed as though he thought we didn't need it, and/or couldn't afford it. He also seemed to have an obsession with urbanizing the outer boroughs. To think the Transit City proposal came with no new core downtown routes seems strange to think about today.
The CEO (I think it was the CEO...) of TTC at the time also said that he believed that installation ATC would allow Line 1 to run at capacity for a long time, so there was no need for a relief line.
 
The CEO (I think it was the CEO...) of TTC at the time also said that he believed that installation ATC would allow Line 1 to run at capacity for a long time, so there was no need for a relief line.

Which begs a question, actually….. how does the current peak ridership on Line 1 south of Bloor compare to immediately before Covid ?

I still believe a relief line is necessary, but I wonder if Covid bought us a decade or so in getting it done.

- Paul
 
Which begs a question, actually….. how does the current peak ridership on Line 1 south of Bloor compare to immediately before Covid ?

I still believe a relief line is necessary, but I wonder if Covid bought us a decade or so in getting it done.

- Paul
Anecdotally, the routes I ride (Lines 1 and 2, and Buses 11 and 56) are suddenly much busier than they were a couple of months ago. Standing room for 56 NB from Donlands at 7:13, 7:28.

I'd also love to know what the numbers show
 
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That's interesting. I wasn't riding at the absolute peak hours this school year, but I've noticed that I have hardly ever seen the subway as busy as it was before. Mind you, there have been some packed streetcars and buses depending on the time

Edit: haven't taken the subway since April so I find these anecdotal improvement interesting
 
Which begs a question, actually….. how does the current peak ridership on Line 1 south of Bloor compare to immediately before Covid ?

I don't believe the TTC has published per-station daily trip numbers since 2019.

While crowding feels high at times, I think thats a result of reduced service rather than a full return of ridership. It's very rare today for anybody to be left at Bloor station because the southbound train was too full during AM rush during normal operations. In 2018 it didn't seem unusual at 8:45am to need to wait for 2 trains, and even minor interruption in AM service could take hours to recover.
 
Which begs a question, actually….. how does the current peak ridership on Line 1 south of Bloor compare to immediately before Covid ?

I still believe a relief line is necessary, but I wonder if Covid bought us a decade or so in getting it done.

- Paul
I wonder if current crowding on Line 1 is suppressing ridership. I expect that once OL opens and bus routes start feeding people into that line, we'll see a much smaller drop off in Line 1 ridership than the new ridership on OL.
 
While the primary purpose of the DRL was to provide passenger relief on Line 1, I believe that the longer alignment of OL allows it to have an expanded scope. It will provide a lot more access to places that aren't connected to the Rapid Transit network.

Additionally I hope that we can get out of the mindset of "let's build this to relieve crowding on this", while certainly a necessary consideration. We should be building to connect more people to transit, and as a side effect, it creates a more resilient network that relieves crowding and congestion.
 

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