Really? So far no one has challenged my opinions. Instead I've been told "it's done already why bother", or "Well obviously they used a glass jawed comparison (BRT) because they already knew that it was going to be a subway from the start". How dare I suggest that LRT might be a better option! However I'll cede as it is not about me.
BTW I think the Steeles extension + LRT is a great idea.
What the HELL is with this? "Oh, the subway definitely needs to go to Steeles, but it makes absolutely no sense to put it further through York" ? This subway is
needed. A fast rapid transit connection is needed all through Thornhill to Richmond Hill Centre, and a TC-style LRT
can't provide that. There are like 100 thousand people in Thornhill, and there is a bunch of densification happening. I'd hazard to guess that the population could possibly double after that development is finished, seeing Yonge as a fully densified corridor, much more than between Eglinton and York Mills. In fact I think that, Yonge through Thornhill is more dense and has more stores than Eglinton to York mills
right now. (not counting Y-E centre.)
I'm guessing that everyone in Toronto complaining about the Yonge extension is just butthurt about how their politicians think that subways aren't necessary to provide rapid transit, and are building nice LRT networks instead. Too bad those LRTs won't actually provide rapid transit though.
Ansem said:
-As a Torontonian, I'm pissed that politicians makes decision based on how people will vote in he next election rather on what needs to be done.
I agree, but that's Toronto's problem. The Yonge extension is one of those needed routes, and it's one of the only ones that's getting what it needs. You can't say "the Yonge Extension shouldn't be built!" just because you're mad that your own politicians are too incompetent or self-centered to actually build transit intelligently.
Ansem said:
-You do agree that subway service should have already been there for many parts of this city. The TTC mandate is to serve Toronto. As long as they do not live to their mandate, I won't support a subway outside. This isn't London who goes to every important transit hub in the city, or Chicago, New York and Paris...
Yes, the TTC's mandate is to serve Toronto, but this is what I freaking hate about Toronto. It thinks that it's the only place in the entire GTA that matters, and that argument is totally a reflection of that. "Oh, well the extension won't be serving Toronto here, so it shouldn't be built." Definitely shows me that Toronto's completely self-absorbed and doesn't care about anything but itself. If that's the real mindset of people, I can't wait till Metrolinx annexes the YUS and B-D and manages the network properly.
And the only reason our system isn't like London, Chicago, New York or Paris is because we say "Toronto isn't New York," or "Toronto isn't London." We're so obsessed with the fact that we're not worthy, that we're somehow inferior to other cities and other countries.
Ansem said:
Why does those 1st class city (in case some of you didn't know, Toronto is in that list) first built their network wihin their city? Just common sense...I just don't see the MTA going to Newark before building that new line in Manhattan or that LRT they are studying for Brooklyn or Bronx.
As I said, this is one of the lines that makes sense. Toronto's not building any of the other lines that make sense, so I see no reason to not build this. Even if we were building other subway, I wouldn't agree with you. Subways in other cities aren't stopped by artificial boundaries, and saying "the subway should go to Steeles but not further cause then that'd be in York Region," is really just stupid logic.
Ansem said:
In Paris the RER goes ouside of Paris, not the subway.
3 Things:
1st, Paris is laid out very differently from Toronto, and it's network has had a lot of time to develop, and it's worked.
2nd, There were originally no long-distance trains or regional rail, which meant that the subways were absolutely congested, and the commute to work was very long. The RER was built to address those issues.
3rd, Paris is actually making plans to start expanding it's subway network again. It hasn't been expanded for a while, and a bunch of places are now underserved that weren't before.
4th, Paris is just one city where the subway is specifically constrained to inside the city. In London, the subway goes well outside the city limits. In Chicago, the subway goes into a number of suburbs not inside the city. In New York, PATH was made to be a subway to venture outside of the city, but is still subway nevertheless. Madrid's Metro ventures into at least one suburb, and I believe there are plans to extend it further out.
Fresh Start said:
What are you talking about? The congestion is in North York, not Thornhill. Also York Region comes up to the Steeles boundary and 60% of buses that feed into Finch are from there, so yes, they'd be freeloading if they expect to benefit from something yet not contribute to its construction.
No, actually there would still be a lineup of busses down Yonge going to Steeles station. The only thing you've done is improved service to all those torontonians, and gotten the York bus traffic out of your face.
Fresh Start said:
Another option to consider over building the $5 billion dollar RHC subway line extension is to initiate regional rail operations along the Bala Sub. This can be GO Transit or a TTC/YRT joint operation to provide headways of every five minutes between Langstaff GO Stn and points within Toronto. People desiring North York would get off at Leslie/Oriole. People wanting Midtown could get off at a new Wynford Heights commuter rail stn that'd link up with the Crosstown LRT and maybe even the DRL. This only costs a few hundred million at most and, unlike subway construction which can take up to a decade, the service could be operational within a year or two after the planning stage.
I agree. How about we get rid of the Yonge subway north of Eglinton too? I mean, obviously Regional Rail is the same thing as a subway, so North York will do well with Go instead of a subway, right?
Fresh Start said:
I don't see how York Region residents are losing out through such an implementation. Yes, they'd have to backtrack to Yonge Street in order to access Uptown/Midtown but the time differential on rapid transit feeders (the Sheppard subway and Crosstown LRT) is marginal in contrast to what was in place before (i.e. long bus commutes to get anywhere). This also in no way affects the planned developments for Richmond Hill Centre as rapid transit into Toronto is still being guaranteed (with far less time-consuming minor stops en route I might add!). It's the stigma that anything less than subway is no good for an area of low density that's questionable, which precisely what Thornhill is and per Heritage Community legislation always will be.
As I said before, let's get rid of the Yonge subway and instead have 5 minute headways on the Richmond Hill line.
But you should be warned, that sort of thing won't take as short as you think. They'd need to improve track, double or triple-track the entire line, build new station facilities, electrify the line, buy new lighter, electric vehicles, sort out agreements with CP or CN or whatever, and like double the number of their drivers.