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Transit City Plan

Which transit plan do you prefer?

  • Transit City

    Votes: 95 79.2%

  • Ford City

    Votes: 25 20.8%
  • Total voters
    120
crs1026 said:
Once the fourth track is added to the Weston line (It's currently three tracks, the limiting factor is the new 401 tunnel, and it's reportedly in the works) then RER can be segregated into 'Express' and 'ST'. The 'Express' can run as such from Etobicoke North, with same stops as UP (Mount Dennis and Bloor). One sees a pretty good number of people on the platform at Bloor going west in the afternoon. The 'ST' needs to begin at Etobicoke North and can handle all the local stops to downtown. If Weston got that, they would forget about ever wanting to take UP to the airport. Frankly, 'ST' or 'RER making stops' is semantics.

- Paul
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I agree that, as it stands right now, ST and RER are basically the same in term of how they will cover the city and the number of stops. That said the devil is in the details.

For most Torontonians they couldn't care less what you call it but they will greatly care how much the fare is. Tory was pretty clear from the beginning that he wants a ST run by the TTC at TTC fares. RER on the other hand would either be run by GO or Metrolinx and they have no trepidations, as is currently exemplified by the GO fares in Toronto, about charging Torontonians a grotesque amount more per km travelled then by those in the 905.

Fare integration will not be good enough. Torontonians want better and faster TTC service at TTC prices. This is why RER doesn't really generate much excitement because as it stands now it's just a glorified GO service. Torontonians have solid reasons not to trust Metrolinx as it's first major finished project is the ever popular UPX..........enough said.
 
Scotian said:
It just seems like the Jane line is luxury whereas a line along Dufferin, while probably needing to be buried in its entirely and thus more costly, would solve multiple problems.
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Jane is not so much a luxury as an imperfect solution to the north-south dilemma. It happens to be where people are riding today, so on ridership it wins the nomination for being the link. But St Clair isn't an easy transfer, and Bloor is as far south as you can go.

@David Brake made a good point, which is that a southeast-to-northwest Smarttrack line fits geography and solves the northwesterners' real need - which is to come into midtown and downtown. If Weston weren't such a narrow, hilly route it would be the perfect LRT path. Weston is congested because it's the direct path everyone wants to take. Happily, the rail right of way is right alongside.

Jane may still justify LRT north of Mount Dennis. I also wonder about better bus service from Albion and Rexdale to Weston to tie in to that. If we could get ST to stretch just a little further than Mount Dennis, we'd have a better solution than the old TC plan.

- Paul
 
Dufferin and Bathurst share a subway (6 stations) between them from Eglinton to Sheppard, yet still have large ridership. By 2017, Keele will be getting a subway (2, 3, or 4 stations, depending upon how close you may consider the subway to be close by). Jane will have one station within Toronto, but 2 stations outside of Toronto (City of Vaughan).

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A Jane LRT would connect Line 1 and 2. A decision would have to done to decide on the northern terminal. I think it should be Highway 407 Station, if funded by Metrolinx or province, else it will likely be Pioneer Village, if Toronto has any say.
 
W. K. Lis said:
A Jane LRT would connect Line 1 and 2. A decision would have to done to decide on the northern terminal. I think it should be Highway 407 Station, if funded by Metrolinx or province, else it will likely be Pioneer Village, if Toronto has any say.
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How easy is it to amend an EA to upgrade a BRT to LRT?

The Highway 7 BRT EA includes a Jane Street BRT ROW from Highway 7 to a new transit-only road a little north of Steeles, and that transit-only road to Pioneer Village (ugh, why didn't they call it YorkU North or something if they wanted it special).
 
W. K. Lis said:
A Jane LRT would connect Line 1 and 2. A decision would have to done to decide on the northern terminal. I think it should be Highway 407 Station, if funded by Metrolinx or province, else it will likely be Pioneer Village, if Toronto has any say.
Click to expand...

I'd have it terminate at VMC, personally. That way you get the connection to the E-W Viva and Zum routes. You get a slight duplication with the subway, but they're really serving different trip patterns.
 
There's a lot of riders between Finch and Steeles. Those closer to Steeles would benefit with the LRT ending at Pioneer Village as it would be faster to ride north for a few minutes and south on the subway. Having the LRT end at Vaughan would carry zero riders. The few that do go north can still take the subway or YRT.

A big NO if TO has to pay for the operating cost.
 
It's a shame that that rail corridor through Scarborough (the one that the Bloor-Danforth Subway uses from Warden to Kennedy) was removed and built on. That would have made RT in Scarborough so much easier.
 
gweed123 said:
It's a shame that that rail corridor through Scarborough (the one that the Bloor-Danforth Subway uses from Warden to Kennedy) was removed and built on. That would have made RT in Scarborough so much easier.
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Why didn't they build Line 2 to Scarborough Centre in that corridor, rather than building the SRT?
 
The pretty illustrations for Transit City (starting with the Crosstown LRT) show the surface tracks would run mostly on a grass right-of-way.

street-scene.jpg.size.custom.crop.1086x413.jpg


The bad news from Steve Munro, from this link,
  • Queensway track from Claude to Humber Loop will be rebuilt in concrete rather than with open ballast as at present. This work will occur over much of the construction season.
  • City work on the Humber River bridge will also run through the construction season.
  • Track on Lake Shore from Humber Loop to Dwight will be replaced in the spring.
  • A new substation will be installed at Humber Loop in the summer.
  • Track at Humber Loop and through the tunnel to Lake Shore will be replaced in the late summer and fall.
  • There are no plans at this point to change the stop at Parkside Drive which is not accessible.
Click to expand...

ttcstreetcar.jpg


You'd think they would use The Queensway to test out grass on the streetcar right-of-way first before using them on the light rail right-of-ways first.
 
W. K. Lis said:
The pretty illustrations for Transit City (starting with the Crosstown LRT) show the surface tracks would run mostly on a grass right-of-way.

The bad news from Steve Munro, from this link,

You'd think they would use The Queensway to test out grass on the streetcar right-of-way first before using them on the light rail right-of-ways first.
Click to expand...

That's actually a pretty brilliant idea. We have enough grey concrete in this city. We should test a variety of alternative materials to use. Different species of grasses, growing mediums, patterns, as well as a variety pavers. And it'd be wise for the Prov to chip in on such a project so Metrolinx can gauge the best method for Crosstown East.
 
W. K. Lis said:
You'd think they would use The Queensway to test out grass on the streetcar right-of-way first before using them on the light rail right-of-ways first.
Click to expand...

TTC has struggled to keep the Queensway trackage level for decades. Lots of different maintenance methods, all of them leading to the same result - a bumpy, swaying ride with slow spots and operators not wanting to take chances by running at full speed. It seems there is no way to keep tracks sitting on loose-soil ballast tamped down properly.

I interpret this decision as the TTC throwing up their hands and admitting defeat.

I like the grass median idea, but only if it maintains fast safe and comfortable operation, and only if track maintenance costs remain reasonable. TTC doesn't appear to have this capability.

- Paul
 
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