A very interesting point, given the debate about the Scarborough subway. To me the TTC's threshold for investing in subways, especially at the end of any line, all but ensures crowding downstream. If the train is leaving full from the terminus, clearly the line to be extended. And that's the case at virtually every terminus today. Especially Finch.
Don't know if that's a salient point, when it comes to leadership. Just evidence of a lack thereof, when we get policy failures like this.
The biggest issue I take with transit in Toronto is the lack of a cohesive vision which takes into account both the commuting reality and public's desires. So we end up with an LRT focused plan which aims to cut current bus travel times dramatically, when the public is focused on cutting their total commute time substantially (which only regional rail like GO RER or SmartTrack can do). The mayor to some extent gets this (hence SmartTrack). But he hasn't been able to pivot his SmartTrack pitch into something the public needs: better fare and service integration with GO RER.
It's ridiculous that most downtown bound commuters from Scarborough or Etobicoke ride the subway 20-30 stops to get to their final destinations. They should be on regional rail service if commuting that far. Lack of a real regional rail service, is also driving demands for subway expansion. If GO RER were in place, and integrated with the TTC, there would be very little demand for subway expansion into Scarborough and the LRTs would be a much, much easier sell, since they'd feed the RER network. Politicians have really mucked it up by pushing LRT first, not working towards integration with GO, and not really telling the public about GO RER.
