News   Dec 20, 2024
 1.1K     5 
News   Dec 20, 2024
 834     2 
News   Dec 20, 2024
 1.7K     0 

Transit Fantasy Maps

Back in the 70's the Province was developing a plan called GO Urban which I assume was the the first iteration of what would become GO ALRT. Anyways the Urban plan called for railways throughout Toronto, however the plan also proposed lines in Hamilton and Ottawa. All I could find where basic outline maps for the lines with no stations, so I made my own with possible stations that may have been built.

The first is the proposed GO Urban lines in Hamilton
HamiltonGOUbran.png


The second are the GO Urban lines proposed for Ottawa
OttawaGOUrban.png
 
It's somewhat later than GO Urban proper, but that eventually became (in Hamilton) a proposal for an ICTS line looping downtown, tunneling up the mountain in line with James St and terminating at Mohawk:
ICTS2.jpg
ICTS1.jpg

The alignment was a bit odd in missing Mohawk college, but I still think the concept of a Mountain transit tunnel has a lot of validity, and that this line would probably have done a much better job marketing ICTS than the SRT ever did.
 
Hi, I'm new to the forum, have been reading for while. I was just wondering, what software/website do you make these maps on?
Thanks.
 
Hi, I'm new to the forum, have been reading for while. I was just wondering, what software/website do you make these maps on?
Thanks.
It's usually Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop for people who have experience using those programs, that'll get you the nicest and professional-looking maps, however, there are many other free websites and programs that you can use. Brand New Subway uses Google Maps API so you can easily make stations and lines on a map overlay. Metro Map Creator is a one that I used, it's a bit finicky, and it does look a bit generic, but you can make some good stuff with it. Just search on Google, and see what's best for what you're trying to do.
 
It's somewhat later than GO Urban proper, but that eventually became (in Hamilton) a proposal for an ICTS line looping downtown, tunneling up the mountain in line with James St and terminating at Mohawk:View attachment 282121View attachment 282122
The alignment was a bit odd in missing Mohawk college, but I still think the concept of a Mountain transit tunnel has a lot of validity, and that this line would probably have done a much better job marketing ICTS than the SRT ever did.
I've felt that Hamilton is probably the one place in Cananda (and possibly North America) where a Monorail could legitimately work like what's seen in Japan and China. To me it checks off all the boxes, from having the perfect capacity, being grade separate for rapid transit, and most importantly being able to climb steeper grades then steel-wheeled metro making getting up the mountain easy and cheap since you wouldn't need to tunnel. Now if the plan doesn't include the mountain like what Hamiltons transit plans currently are, then a Monorail is absolutely useless and LRT is the best solution. However if you want to go up the mountain without sacrificing capacity and rapidness then Monorail to me actually becomes a viable solution.
 
I've felt that Hamilton is probably the one place in Cananda (and possibly North America) where a Monorail could legitimately work like what's seen in Japan and China. To me it checks off all the boxes, from having the perfect capacity, being grade separate for rapid transit, and most importantly being able to climb steeper grades then steel-wheeled metro making getting up the mountain easy and cheap since you wouldn't need to tunnel. Now if the plan doesn't include the mountain like what Hamiltons transit plans currently are, then a Monorail is absolutely useless and LRT is the best solution. However if you want to go up the mountain without sacrificing capacity and rapidness then Monorail to me actually becomes a viable solution.
That would be cool, but the most likely corridor for transit that gets up the mountain (James Street) would likely need to continue to John C. Munro Airport. Would a monorail be the best solution for transit between two points south of the escarpment?
 
The thing on my mind for a few years has been that new mountain seems like one of the few places that a guided busway actually makes a lot of sense.
 
Jane.png


Something that tends to get ignored or neglected a lot in transit proposals is that where a train does stop is as important as where a train does NOT stop. To demonstrate this, I have created a potential stop arrangement for the Jane LRT that serves the communities on the route, while taking lessons from the mistakes made on the Eglinton and Finch West lines.

I used the stops listed on the Wikipedia article for the Jane LRT, and added a small extension southwards into Etobicoke. The stops that I left out are shown as dark gray circles on the line, and below is my rationale for most of the minor stops and why I did or did not include them:

Murray Ross: Cut. Too close to an interchange station (Pioneer Village)
Shoreham: Keep. Surrounded by apartments and a retail plaza, Shoreham is a collector in both directions
Driftwood: Cut. 300m or less from Shoreham
York Gate: Cut. Too close to an interchange station (Jane and Finch)
Yewtree: Cut. Way too close to Jane and Finch
Yorkwoods: Cut. Less central than Grandravine
Grandravine: Keep. Closer to the midpoint between Finch and Sheppard, plus a more distinct name because it does not have "York-" in it
Rita: Cut. Not enough development potential
Giltspur: Cut. Mostly surrounded by green space, insufficient development potential unless the east frontage of Jane and the west frontage of Turks are rezoned
Exbury: Keep. Midpoint between Finch and Wilson, plenty of infill potential
Heathrow: Cut. Too close to Exbury and Wilson
Falstaff: Keep. Highways 400 and 401 would act as barriers to discourage people from walking to/from other stations
Maple Leaf: Keep. Maple Leaf and Church are both arterials
Trethewey: Keep. Lots of development potential
Outlook: Keep, or shift south to Black Creek Boulevard. Central point of neighbourhood
Woolner: Cut, if Lambton becomes an interchange with the St Clair streetcar and possibly services on Dundas/Milton GO
St Johns: Cut. Not enough of a destination, surface stops are not feasible this far south
Annette: Keep. Collector in the east direction, sole connection to a neighbourhood in the west direction, roughly midway between St Clair and Bloor
Ardagh: Cut. Too close to Annette

Unlike the Finch LRT, this line would replace the express services on Jane Street but not local service.
 
How much more could be built downtown if we allowed for this:





御茶之水|東京都 by 里卡豆 Ricardo, on Flickr
Not just that, but Toronto is much less seismically active than Tokyo (though Toronto had at least two earthquakes at or exceeding magnitude 5 in recorded history).

All the infrastructure in that image has to be very resilient to earthquakes (which are rather common in Tokyo; magnitude 5 earthquakes hitting Tokyo often don't make the news).
 
Last edited:
@north-of-anything great map as always. do you imagine the line being underground south of the Jane-401 ramps?
I imagine the line being underground south of Eglinton at a minimum. I don't know what the best solution would be for the area between Eglinton and the 401, since I'm not familiar with their needs or expectations. North of Wilson would be street-running with possible grade separations at major intersections without stops.
 
I imagine the line being underground south of Eglinton at a minimum. I don't know what the best solution would be for the area between Eglinton and the 401, since I'm not familiar with their needs or expectations. North of Wilson would be street-running with possible grade separations at major intersections without stops.

Section south of Bloor would be the hardest. There is no apparent surface path, while a tunnel would probably hit a high-pressure aquifer that exists under High Park.
 

Back
Top