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

Now that the other thread is up....perhaps we can leave this discussion to talk about how to get the line built.....and also think of a new name.....
 
kEiThZ said:
It won't be downtown councilors deciding the merits of this line. It will be their suburban counterparts who have to hear complaints from their constituents who make the transfer at Yonge and Bloor everyday. You know those same monday to friday 9 to 5'ers that you were giving less importance to.
Click to expand...

Ok, look back at all my comments and see how I'm not favouring weekend use over weekday use. I want the DRL to benefit the highest weekday traffic and attract a sizeable weekend crowd.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm going to pass, I have to run out for most of the afternoon.
 
scarberiankhatru said:
That would be a well-used first phase, at least...Beaver Creek, Seneca, Fairview, etc.
Click to expand...

LMFAO true! lol and not to mention it could potentially take off traffict from the DVP and ivert off of the 404 and also there are quite a ibt of condominiums popping up and also the VIva connectoin in a dedicated ROW lol this would actually make sense
 
jamesbow said:
One thing that we should note is that both fiscal reality and the raison d'etre of this line (relieving pressure on the Bloor-Yonge interchange) means that this service will be an express service, rather than a local one, meaning that station stops, on average, will be substantially wider than what we see for the Bloor-Danforth subway, which as well as functioning as a commuter route is providing local support to Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue.
Click to expand...

To further the political discussion of this subway line, it must be remembered that council has advocated this line as a condition of approval of the Yonge extension. The Yonge extension is a line that already has significant provincial and regional support (and, presumably, given the Conservatives have an MP being served by the Yonge Richmond Hill extension - Peter Kent - the feds will be on board as well).

To start mucking about with a configuration that may in fact work better for the city of Toronto but that does not provide the function implicit in its current name is a mistake. It will result in decoupling the advocacy of this line from the advocacy for Yonge's extension. Political support will be weakened where it matters - i.e. where the capital funds are.

I would suggest that this line must, first and foremost, reduce congestion at Yonge-Bloor and reduce traffic at College and Wellesley - otherwise any funds that might go to this subway construction will remain allocated toward rebuilding the station at Yonge-Bloor, and the DRL will be a non-starter.

Incidentally, although ultimately the line will be named after its alignment - it's TTC policy, after all - I think changing the name from Downtown Relief Line is also a mistake, unless it makes the mission of diverting people from Yonge-Bloor even more obvious. No "Loop" or "Canada Line" or any other such whimsy.
 
kEiThZ, a DRL makes all other system extensions more "doable."

Also, Ed Drass wrote about the DRL movement in today's METRO...

==================================================

New downtown subway relief line is gaining momentum
In Transit by Ed Drass
February 09, 2009 05:41

In less than a year, the idea of a new downtown subway line has gone from being a dusty, forgotten plan to winning the support of Toronto city council. 416 politicians and activists now want the proposal fast-tracked — which could potentially delay a northern extension of the Yonge subway to Richmond Hill.

The Downtown Relief Line would dip into the city core from new connections along the Bloor-Danforth route, hypothetically diverting passenger traffic away from the crowded Yonge/Bloor and St. George transfer stations.

Transit fans are busy debating exactly where the “DRL” should run, and the concept is gaining general credibility as a way to offset the effect of thousands of future transit riders boarding Yonge trains from north of Steeles.

Transit planners ignored the Yonge expansion until recently, apparently in the belief Toronto taxpayers would never build a line that filled up with passengers before it crossed the Steeles boundary. When the provincial Liberals offered in 2007 to finance the extension as part of the “MoveOntario 2020” mega-plan, York Region groups seized on the idea.

Toronto was so focused on the Transit City network of light rail lines further south that the general design of the Yonge subway was pretty well complete when the TTC joined York Region’s public consultation process late last year.

Provincial planning agency Metrolinx approved a regional transit plan in November, and many observers noticed the lack of new downtown lines among projects slated for the first 15 years.

It seems the latest push is to convince Metrolinx that the DRL is not really a competitor to the Yonge extension, but the key to ensuring York Region commuters can be accommodated on Yonge trains downtown.

==================================================

Also, for those on Twitter, please follow DRL Now.
 
Last edited:
Darkstar416 said:
Transit planners ignored the Yonge expansion until recently, apparently in the belief Toronto taxpayers would never build a line that filled up with passengers before it crossed the Steeles boundary.
Click to expand...

I didn't really understand this line. Was it proposed that Toronto taxpayers build a line that fills up with passengers before it crosses (going southbound, presumably) the Steeles boundary?
 
Disparishun said:
I didn't really understand this line. Was it proposed that Toronto taxpayers build a line that fills up with passengers before it crosses (going southbound, presumably) the Steeles boundary?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure but it seems, toronto tax payers would pay for the line if there were many passengers going north past steeles (it would make it feasible that many people use it?) But since not as many people go past steeles, it would be better to concentrate on downtown to relieve the congestion for those who are heading up north, instead of all those going north, east and west? But I don't know why Toronto tax payers should be paying for lines going past steeles anyhow. Does 905 taxes help pay for the ttc or extension?
 
Toronto didn't want to be stuck building an expensive line that would help very few within its city limits. Ontario/York Region has worked that out so Toronto is more indifferent to it, so long as capacity improvements can be made further south (hopefully via a DRL).
 
AKS said:
But I don't know why Toronto tax payers should be paying for lines going past steeles anyhow. Does 905 taxes help pay for the ttc or extension?
Click to expand...

You are restating the premise, but you are not clarifying it. Has someone proposed, as Ed Drass states in his column, that the Yonge Extension should be financed using City of Toronto property taxes? If so, has such a proposal been accepted?

I had thought that the answer to both of those was no, and that the information printed in Ed Drass's Metro column is wrong. You are implying that the answer is, in fact, yes, things are as Drass has painted them. On what basis?
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top