The debate over Subways or LRT transit is over – David Miller will see his vision for Toronto

David Miller‘s original plan for Transit City will go ahead. The debate is over and it’s time to move on. It is pointless to delay building transit in Toronto and we should accept the conclusion. According to the original plan, if Transit City was started on time the Sheppard portion would have been completed by 2014. Hopefully the province will get it done quickly and on budget. Any further delays will add to the overall costs. Oddly enough construction on the Sheppard portion of the LRT will not begin until 2014, in a municipal election year. Is it a coincidence? Rob Ford may want to consider leaving this issue alone during the next election. Let’s look at the Downtown Relief Line (DRL), or something else. Unless he has a Federal ace card up his sleeve he may find himself on the wrong side again.

http://www.thestar.com/mobile/news/transportation/article/1167448–metrolinx-recommends-sheppard-lrt-building-start-in-2014

David Miller (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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• LRT Information Blog (thegtapatriot.wordpress.com)
• Subways for the Downtown Relief Line (thegtapatriot.com)
• Rob Ford vs. David Miller. Left vs. right. Subways vs. Island Bridge. The Facts. (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Poll shows that we want subways and we are willing to pay for it (thegtapatriot.wordpress.com)
• Ford-Stintz showdown underway over transit future (cbc.ca)

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Poll shows that we want subways and we are willing to pay for it

The Toronto Transit Commission's bus #1303, a Daimler Buses North America/Orion Bus Industries Orion 07.501 "VII" NG HEV, travels west along St. Clair Avenue East on the 102 Markham Road route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Greater Toronto Area supports a local sales tax dedicated to public transit and other infrastructure by 74%. Just when you though the transit debate was over in Toronto, we may be in for another round. In one corner Mayor Rob Ford who wants subways without taxes and on the other side council who wants taxes but no subways. As I said before there must be some compromise, but so far egos are prevailing. Both sides want to win, at the expense of others. If we plan on creating subways, with taxes, we should first look into a Downtown Relief Line and get something to help the Yonge line. I remember a while back wondering why council never looked into sending the Sheppard line south, through the Don Valley overground and running express to downtown; connecting at possibly York Mills, Lawrence, Eglinton and then express downtown. It should be interesting to see what debate turns up in Toronto council regarding this poll. Maybe we should forget Toronto and just fund transit initiatives in Peel, York and Durham region. It should be another interesting month in the G.T.A.

Related articles

• 74% support small sales tax hike if money goes to transit: poll (theglobeandmail.com)
• Subway or LRT for TTC: Prime Minister Stephen Harper prefers subways (thestar.com)
• ‘It’s all about subways,’ Rob Ford tells City Hall scrum (news.nationalpost.com)
• New Light Rail Line Approved In Toronto Over Mayor’s Objections in the Continuing War On The Car (treehugger.com)

A great source for transit information – The LRT Information Blog

my photo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With transit in Toronto taking a back seat to casino expansion and red-light districts it’s nice to see that there is still action taking place outside of the G.T.A. In particular York Region and expansion of the Yonge line, north of Steeles and LRT expansion in Peel. With the Yonge line I am still a bit concerned about the load factors affecting affecting travel along the route. Toronto needs to seriously look into expansion of a Downtown Relief Line, as soon as possible; to ease the congestion on the Y-U-S. The Toronto LRT Information Page provides updates and commentary on both the Yonge Subway extension and the Brampton / Mississauga LRT expansion plans.

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Related articles

• Subways for the Downtown Relief Line (thegtapatriot.wordpress.com)
• Toronto transit: ‘Downtown’ relief line could be the subway suburbanites crave (thestar.com)
• Despite wide support for proposed Eglinton LRT changes, Ford not budging on initial plan (theglobeandmail.com)
• Subway the clear choice at loud Scarborough transit meeting (thestar.com)
• Mississauga mayor says Ford transit plan can’t come at other cities’ expense (thestar.com)

The case for a Downtown Relief Line

In the last 100 years, there have been many subway proposals that have come and gone. One of the first serious proposals, in 1911, would have seen streetcar subways built under Yonge, Queen and Bloor streets to feed city and interurban cars downtown. Later proposals called for a Queen Street subway for streetcars or heavy rail, which remained on the books until about 1980. The Eglinton West subway even started construction, until filled in by order of the Harris Conservatives in 1995. Another serious subway proposal that never got anywhere was something called the Downtown Relief Line.

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TTC to seriously consider relief line by 2018, Giambrone says…

“TTC chairman Adam Giambrone says a new subway line cutting through the bottom of the city is a “good idea,” one the TTC will start looking at seriously by 2018. The Downtown Rapid Transit project, or Downtown Relief Line (DRL), would relieve congestion at the Bloor-Yonge interchange and the line’s busiest stretch between Yonge and Union stations.”

http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5113.shtml

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1) Can we really wait until 2018?

2) Can the Yonge line truly handle the addition and influx of passengers from Richmond Hill and beyond?

3) Why are there so few options to get downtown?

For the downtown Toronto core to remain vibrant these questions need to be answered. While politicians debate who is at fault, who should pay and when we should start “INVESTING” in transit they continue to approve new condo developments, higher density and more taxes. How are these people going to get around? This is not Vancouver and unfortunately we do not have a system like Montreal or New York. When will our politicians wake up and make the investments needed for our city? Or better yet, when will “you” wake up?

By Andy MJ
a.k.a “The GTA Patriot”
Toronto, Ontario