Really? I do Clark to Finch daily. Clark to Steeles is congested -- and often gets less so after Steeles, notwithstanding all the extra construction and so forth which congests the southern leg. There are more buses on the southern leg, though.
And its those added buses on the sothern end that contribute to North York's gridlock, especially during peak. I agree with you that the congestion doesn’t begin smack dab at the municipal border, but it is typically a smoother ride through historic Thornhill northwards than it is the stretch from Clark to the 401. And although I misspoke earlier when its really 45 - 50 minutes from RHC to Union; that is still a more time-consuming commute than it’d be for limited-stopping express regional rail along the Bala Sub. Many Markhamites do not use the Yonge subway out of choice but rather out of necessity, as that’s the only place where buses deposit them. Don't you think Markhamites may work nearby the Lesmill or Concorde/Wynford business parks and will desire a direct rapid transit link to these points?
Conditioning the Don Mills corridor from now well in advance of the DRL/ DM LRT would mean many of these commuters could become permanent converts away from ever needing the Yonge Line for travel. In essence, most people don’t concern themselves with which mode gets them there, they just want their commute to be direct. Modes other than the most expensive option (i.e. subways) can also be made to operate efficiently direct, if only we’d invest in them.
Interesting. Which buses would you reroute? (And what would happen to their ridership?)
Specifically the 300 series routes (Beaver Creek, Markham Centre, Unionville, and Bayview Express buses) as well 91 Bayview which would make up for the shotty job the 11 bus does north of Sheppard. All these could feed into the Sheppard Line at various points. Once the DM LRT + DRL are operational, Routes 2, 3, 23 and 88 would have their operations completely removed from the Yonge corridor (Doncaster is only a couples blocks north of the proposed Steeles Stn, negligible distance). To Clark is only 1km north of Steeles so the 5 bus would hardly contribute to traffic congestion along Yonge St itself nor be that far away of a commute for you to travel from.
I have no clue as to cost, but don't all of these sources cite $2.5b and rely on a common source for that figure?
Knowing the TTC, I wouldn’t be surprised if it does actually cost $5 billion for 6.4 kms of new subway and all the bells and whistles it'll bring with it. And the Gov’t is already prepared to meet that price regardless, so why even debate that? Look, I have nothing against York Region getting new subways; but only after all other more affordable avenues have been exhausted first. There is so much we could do in advance of building a full-length subway extension if only we’d just leave the politics, bureaucracy, biases and prejudices out of the planning discussions.
