Transit City Plan

[W. K. Lis]

Rob Ford's gravy has been found in the money being wasted on Ford's attempts to cancel Transit City, when we already had plans for a better transit network (not just a line). In addition, with the extra $10 million needed for creating the Sheppard Subway plans, that makes it $75 million in gravy money being wasted by Ford, when we could be already constructing a Finch West LRT this year.

Don't waste any more gravy money, when a better transit plan that would serve more people at less money is already available.

 

[sixrings]

The momentum is building to resume Transit City. I say "resume" because it was never officially cancelled.

Councillor Augimeri rides the Finch bus to make a case for the Finch LRT. "It's time" she says.

[video=youtube;bDn4SStsKvA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDn4SStsKvA[/video]

DISLIKE Augimeri but LOVEEEEEEEE this video! good work!

 

[gweed123]

Robbie just keeps on rolling, saving people money:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...sit-city-could-hit-65-million/article2270358/

 

[sixrings]

“We know, poll after poll after poll, people want subways,” Doug Ford said. “They are very clear. The mandate was very clear in the election. People want subways.”

We know, poll after poll after poll, people want FERRARIS.... People want FERRARIS.

 

[k10ery]

DISLIKE Augimeri but LOVEEEEEEEE this video! good work!

You have to stand on the bus at rush hour? Oh, the humanity!

Seriously, I wish the College car looked that roomy at rush hour. And the proposed service cuts are only offpeak, right?

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Maria looks nice there.

 

[M II A II R II K]

Where are these Finch West riders going anyway, to be dumped onto the Yonge Line? And maybe they should re-introduce articulated busses for extra capacity.

When there's the new Finch West station it could have a significant impact since the riders are riding to get to rapid transit.

 

[nfitz]

You have to stand on the bus at rush hour? Oh, the humanity!

Watch the video. That was the second bus. The first one was so full it didn't even stop. The issue is that you can't even get a bus to stand on.

Seriously, I wish the College car looked that roomy at rush hour.

I use the College car at rush hour. It's very rare that the trailing streetcar is that packed, after the first one hasn't even stopped because it is so full.

And the proposed service cuts are only offpeak, right?

Once again, no. Many of the TTC cuts are peak, because they've increased the loading standards (are going to stuff more people on the bus in rush hour). Finch West doesn't have any peak cuts (which must mean they can't be meeting the current loading standard at all!), however they are making severe cuts to mid-day (9 AM to 3 pm service). Note that the video was shot about 9 AM, and discusses how overcrowded the Finch West already is between 9 AM and 10 AM! They were proposing cutting from about 14 buses/hour to 12 buses/hour at that time. From the video, it looks like they actually need to add buses during that time instead.

 

[current]

Is Transit City Dead? According to this report it may still be alive - 680News online article:

Scrapping Transit City Could Cost Toronto $65-Million

John Stall and 680News staff Dec 14, 2011 08:54:27 AM



...The provincial agency Metrolinx told the Globe and Mail that it is still working on the final figure with light-rail suppliers who lost the order when Transit City was cancelled, adding that it's important to be as accurate as possible before issuing an invoice to the City of Toronto.

However, Matlow said "it's not been decided by council yet that Transit City is indeed dead."

"Even in the memorandum of understanding between the province and the mayor, the Sheppard line will have to be debated and voted on at both the Ontario legislature and Toronto city council, so it's not been determined what the plan will be for rapid transit for Toronto in the coming years," he added.

Read More: http://www.680news.com/news/local/article/310073--cost-of-nixing-transit-city-could-hit-65-million

 

[BurlOak]

Is Transit City Dead? According to this report it may still be alive - 680News online article:

Scrapping Transit City Could Cost Toronto $65-Million

John Stall and 680News staff Dec 14, 2011 08:54:27 AM



...The provincial agency Metrolinx told the Globe and Mail that it is still working on the final figure with light-rail suppliers who lost the order when Transit City was cancelled, adding that it's important to be as accurate as possible before issuing an invoice to the City of Toronto.

However, Matlow said "it's not been decided by council yet that Transit City is indeed dead."

"Even in the memorandum of understanding between the province and the mayor, the Sheppard line will have to be debated and voted on at both the Ontario legislature and Toronto city council, so it's not been determined what the plan will be for rapid transit for Toronto in the coming years," he added.

Read More: http://www.680news.com/news/local/article/310073--cost-of-nixing-transit-city-could-hit-65-million

Transit City died (or was post-postoned) because of poor marketing and poor timing. I saw a number of transit presentations that described transit vehicle capacity and showed categories of: Subway/HRT, SRT, LRT/Streetcars, and Bus/BRT. It became too easy to compare LRT to slow, local streetcars and the construction problems of St. Clair.
For timing, the core of the transit system is the subway system - this should be planned and built first. Afterwards, LRT could be built to connect to the core subway system. Many of the LRT lines in Transit City would have been a lot more palatable if the DRL existed and GO integration was present - instead of LRT just clogging up the existing subways to a greater extent.

 

[TwoDogs_39]

OK, that was actually a great video. Very realistic and revealing. Good on Augimeri!

 

[junctionist]

Transit City should have been tweaked but not cancelled. How can we not upgrade transit on Finch West when the buses are so crowded and inadequate? It's neglectful. There are other suburban routes where riders are in the same situation. On the other hand, it never made sense to switch to LRT on Sheppard after phase one of the subway was completed, and the Eglinton LRT might not have been that reliable with so much of it above ground considering all the intersections. (Eglinton is an ideal route for real, grade-separated rapid transit across central Toronto.) The Jane LRT's construction would have been a money pit with continuous expropriation probably needed from Eglinton to Dundas and even tunnelling from Dundas to Bloor. I'm quite happy about finally getting the Eglinton subway with the Mike Harris of the day defeated and construction beginning with provincial funding. We should add on-street ROW LRT where it's needed the most, perhaps with money remaining from the Crosstown.

 

[Minus Smile]

Suburbanites don't want Transit City; move on. Downtowners know they sure as hell wouldn't want a suburbanite taking away their street cars or eliminating bike lanes.

 

[k10ery]

Watch the video. That was the second bus. The first one was so full it didn't even stop. The issue is that you can't even get a bus to stand on.

I use the College car at rush hour. It's very rare that the trailing streetcar is that packed, after the first one hasn't even stopped because it is so full.

You're right. I was being a bit of a jerk about it, to be honest.

 

[gweed123]

Suburbanites don't want Transit City; move on. Downtowners know they sure as hell wouldn't want a suburbanite taking away their street cars or eliminating bike lanes.

Transit City wasn't going to eliminate any vehicle lanes (or bike lanes). I'm not exactly a fan of Transit City, but if you're going to harp on it, at least harp on it for the right reasons...