kkgg7
Banned
I came to realize most of Toronto's transit issue stems from the fact that we have a pretty tiny and but dense financial district that is bound by Front, Queen, Yonge and University. In the rush hours, too many people need to get in/out of there. Not only this, the financial district is expanding southward, which means more office towers, which in turn leads to more congestion on Yonge line. Most newly proposed lines only feed more people to the Yonge line (which is closer to Bay than University), which will only make matters worse.
This is probably the reason why Chicago's eight lines all go through the loop, simply because it makes more sense for each line to go somewhere from the core than linking two suburbs in whatever direction.
Is it time for Toronto to consider a second govenment-led Central Business District, rather than increasing the density of the financial district? We all know NYC has a sizable downtown and a huge midtown. We have a so-called midtown, but in terms of jobs/office buildings, it is hardly a business area yet.
For example, if Yonge/Eglinton comes with a lot more office towers, rather than just condos, the Yonge line would be less stressed. People from all direct may head to Y/E to work. Right now, the office space at Scotia Plaza alone is nearly as much as that in the entire "midtown". It would be even better if the second CBD is not on Yonge, but for example, to circle around some under-used stations such as St Clair West, where there is not so much a neighbourhood to speak of, since the Spadina line seems to be under much less pressure than Yonge.
In general, I don't think the traditional North American style one-CBD system works well. It comes with benefits but eventually with population growth, public transit meets too much challenge.
This is probably the reason why Chicago's eight lines all go through the loop, simply because it makes more sense for each line to go somewhere from the core than linking two suburbs in whatever direction.
Is it time for Toronto to consider a second govenment-led Central Business District, rather than increasing the density of the financial district? We all know NYC has a sizable downtown and a huge midtown. We have a so-called midtown, but in terms of jobs/office buildings, it is hardly a business area yet.
For example, if Yonge/Eglinton comes with a lot more office towers, rather than just condos, the Yonge line would be less stressed. People from all direct may head to Y/E to work. Right now, the office space at Scotia Plaza alone is nearly as much as that in the entire "midtown". It would be even better if the second CBD is not on Yonge, but for example, to circle around some under-used stations such as St Clair West, where there is not so much a neighbourhood to speak of, since the Spadina line seems to be under much less pressure than Yonge.
In general, I don't think the traditional North American style one-CBD system works well. It comes with benefits but eventually with population growth, public transit meets too much challenge.
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