The only solid LRT line is still moving forward today. Sheppard and the SLRT were "Band-Aid" solutions. A surface subway can do what the SLRT did only better. As for Sheppard, I have even tried myself to accept the extra transfer pushed on Sheppard residents as long as there was a compromise with the SLRT was being converted to subway. I really would like to avoid another 30 years of debate. But I get that the design on Sheppard was truly unacceptable & divisive. So unfortunately the residents around that line are actually more inconvenienced & more debate is needed.
I also think we are closer to funding the DRL today than yesterday. The sooner Toronto's main transit areas stop attacking areas its own City from growing with fair integration and telling them whats best. The sooner we can all start to lobby, tax appropriately & the quicker the Political fighting will stop and a funding model can be achieved.
LRT, LRT, LRT was the cheapest solution without any thought to fair integration
SUBWAYS, SUWAYS, SUBWAY was the most expensive solution without much thought for toward priority areas
Both very extreme Political plans, both had merits in differing areas of Scarborough and neither plan worked effectively on its own. But if we fund and design a more thought out network of both technologies we are giving the best chance for the City to grow unified. Build it once, build it right or don't build it at all.
'Extra transfer pushed on Sheppard residents'? Nothing is being pushed on them. Relatively speaking, the Sheppard Subway Line is barely used.
The LRT is a great solution for lower density areas. It's not only more affordable, it offers better coverage and access.
When did this debate become political? When a certain former mayor decided to use transit as a vote-getting tool, pretending that LRTs are somehow lesser than subways. The current mayor is unfortunately following the same playbook.
I'm also tired of hearing complaints about having to make transfers. That's how transit works. If I'm at Bathurst & Bloor and want to go to Yonge and Eglinton, I have to take the subway east...then I have to get off the train, walk up a flight of stairs, and get on another train. Kind of like what I have to do when I want to go to STC. The expectation that one should be able to get on a transit vehicle and it should take them wherever they'd like to go is ridiculous.
Transit isn't an entitlement. Infrastructure decisions should be based on need and practicality - in this case, the ridership numbers and density clearly do not justify a subway extension. A quick look at the stats shows that 37% of the people who use the RT (excluding Kennedy) take advantage of stations other than STC. A 6KM subway extension is going to leave those people out in the cold. This is going to make transit in Scarborough worse, not better - all so politicians looking for votes can claim they delivered a subway to the supposedly deprived citizens of Scarborough.
