Re: LRT Network Proposition
A dedicated transit corridor on Finch Ave., in part utilizing the hydro right of way, to connect north Scarborough and north Etobicoke to the subway; A west waterfront line linking Etobicoke to Union Station; Connecting the Sheppard subway line to Scarborough Town Centre; Extending the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) line to northeastern Scarborough. Since the SRT is due to wear out by about 2011 in any case, it's the subject of a separate planning process.
Another important rapid transit route that will likely be covered in the TTC report tomorrow is the Don Mills corridor, Giambrone said. Planning work is already under way on Don Mills.
Northwest Etobicoke will benefit far more from the new York U subway extension than from any new light rail. The Finch West station at Keele will dramatically shorten trips for people in Jane/Finch, Weston/Finch and even Rexdale to the subway. I am sure that it will become a very well-used station. The EA even calls for five full, articulated-capable bus bays in the station to handle the Finch West bus alone. A streetcar to the Yonge line will do very little to reduce travel times or reduce overcrowding on the Yonge line by shifting traffic to Spadina.
I've already mentioned the problems with running in the Finch hydro corridor. I'm of two minds, since a hydro corridor route will create the potential for real, LRT-style limited stops and potentially even crossing gated level crossings which give true priority to the light rail vehicle. On the other hand, several studies have dismissed the hydro corridor as being too far from Finch even for a subway, which as we all know people are far more willing to walk to than a bus or streetcar route.
This is aside from the whole issue that I mentioned about four high capacity transit corridors within a couple kilometres (Sheppard, Finch, Highway 407, Highway 7).
I completely support the west waterfront line, which is an economical project that, with real transit priority, has the potential to generate significant ridership.
The most frustrating is the completion of Sheppard with LRT. I'd much rather wait a few years for the streetcar phase to pass and for us to start building new subways than to have a new LRT now and be forced to live with it forever. This completely unnecessary transfer will be something the city will come to regret for a very long time, much like the Kennedy transfer to the RT. It will forever doom Sheppard to the failure that the streetcar junkies wish it will be.
As I've already mentioned, the extension of the RT north to Sheppard and Markham makes no sense. The cost will easily be the same as extending the Sheppard line to Consumers, and anybody who has ever been to those two places will know that there is infinitely more development at Consumers. Sheppard and Markham has gas stations and a couple mid-rise office buildings. The only intermediate station will still be a good walk from Centennial College and Tuxedo Court, the only nearby destinations of any consequence. For the same marginal cost of refurbishment and extension, or less since any extension will require a replacement of the constrained McCowan Yard, they could replace the RT with a subway that would save time not only for people at Sheppard and Markham, but from Ellesmere East/UTSC, Milliken, and all of the rest of northeast and east Scarborough.
I remain baffled by the obsession with the northeastern fringe of Scarborough. I can't emphasize more that
Malvern just isn't that big. In fact, it's far smaller than countless other nodes across the city that nobody would ever dream to serve with its own RT extension. I've heard it called "fast-growing" but all the growth in northeast Scarborough is in tract housing in the Morningside Heights area, which is not particularly transit-friendly in the first place and will simply not generate any kind of significant ridership for an RT at Markham and Sheppard, which a cursory glance at a map would show is quite a distance away. At a hundredth of the cost of this RT extension, the TTC could route the Neilson bus from Morningside Heights and Malvern to Scarborough Centre along Highway 401, potentially using shoulder bus lanes as on the 403. Scarborough Centre is very successful as the transit hub for Scarborough. It just makes perfect sense to route new rapid transit and bus lines to one place where people can easily make connections. Forcing riders from eastern Scarborough to ride to Scarborough Centre, change to the RT, ride up to Sheppard, change to the Sheppard streetcar to Don Mills, then transfer to the subway just to get to Yonge is not a recipe for successful transit.
Don Mills is interesting. I've always been the DRL guy, so I'm pleased that they're at least examining the corridor. The problem I see is that higher order transit on Don Mills will only be successful if it attracts passengers on east-west bus routes away from the Yonge line. With the minimal travel time savings existing TTC ROWs have offered, east enders will still have a shorter trip downtown by riding all the way to Yonge.
I would guess that they will also propose an extension of the streetcar along Kingston Road. That route already has pitiful headways (as much as 20 minutes). What are they going to do when they make the route even longer and double the capacity of the vehicles? Double the headways? 40 minute service? Obviously that's exaggerating, but I really question the need to spend $200 million to extend a streetcar line which already can barely be considered a full service route.
