Thanks for the links! Finally I got time to read the report. I wasn't impressed; it looks like the authors cannot make a strong case for LRT on Eglinton East: 1. They want smaller LRVs, to reduce the footprint and minimize the impact on the Highland Creek valley. Fair enough. However, this...

Not a bad idea, but there would be some challenges too: 1) Potential resistance of Toronto Hydro against the use of their lands for BRT lines or LRT tracks. 2) The Finch corridor doesn't really serve Rexdale or Humber College; it diverts south-west soon after the Hwy401 crossing. Edit: Finch...

Btw, if the funding was available, would there be enough time to extend the Finch line from Keele to Yonge and put it in operation before the heavy construction starts on the Yonge North subway extension? If that light rail link was already in place, the subway construction pains could be...

Finch is wide enough to add two surface transit lanes, from Keele almost to Yonge (actually to a smaller arterial called Beecroft). The last 300 m from Beecroft and Yonge are tight, and a tunnel is preferred there. Plus, the volume of transfers would make an underground interchange with the...

I wouldn't call it a problem. LRTs in Calgary and Edmonton play the role of TTC subways, linking the remote suburbs to the centre. To be effective at that, they need to be fast and operate with a wide stop spacing. Finch West is a more local route, not going all the way from Rexdale to...

I think that right-of-way will be difficult to use if wide-bodied TTC trains are retained on Line4: - The guideway will have to be rebuilt, and the new guideway has to be much wider; is there enough room for that. - New 150-m long elevated station (or 100-m for 4-car trains, but with no option...

And re. sending Line 4 to STC vs staying on Sheppard: both options have their pros and cons from the network perspective. For all the connecting routes serving places north of 401 (McCowan, Malvern, the Zoo and the rest of Sheppard East), it is best if both Line 2 and Line 4 terminate at...

I'm not going to say this is a bad idea. But please note that the connection will be challenging. The Line 2 tracks are going to point north; in order to turn west, they would need to make a giant curve north of Sheppard, and it will be hard not to get under any houses if the 300-m turning...

Conversion to low-floor LRT (Transit City mode) would be expensive and would take a lot of time: need to lower the platforms or rise the tracks, that brings a host of other changes. Conversion to another type of high-floor trains (such as OL) should be both cheaper and faster. It might be...

Local residential density never drives ridership at the subway level. Line 1 and Line 2 are very busy because of the feeder routes, while walk-in riders make a small portion of all users.

Yep, I noticed this as well. The route could change by the time they get to the design phase, but this is the way they see it now.

This option should be cheapest, but it will be less appealing / less popular, whether you take the big-picture view or the next-step view. If one wants a long line that spawns from the Rouge Hill GO station to say Rexdale, then a continuous line is clearly more appealing, and the cost of...

I don't have the numbers, but the general idea is this: A. The cost of converting the existing line is constant (all 5.5 km have to be converted at once) B. The cost reduction from using the more agile technology for the new section is roughly proportional to the length of that new section...

Thinking big picture, changing to a more agile technology for this corridor is a money saver. Outer sections can be constructed for less, and that can offset the cost of refitting the existing 5.5 km. But if one looks at the next step alone, then the long-term saving from the more appropriate...

If Sheppard subway is converted to another (more agile) high-floor rolling stock, then few if any structural changes will be needed. There could be a number of elements to modify: perhaps the rail gauge, electric and control systems etc. But that should be doable in months, not years. And, it...

@TigerMaster: I like your map, it is another viable configuration of rapid transit lines in the western half of the city. However, I do not expect the ridership of the single diagonal line to be that dramatically high: Dufferin's local demand is not that high by the subway standards. That...

For the next western high-capacity line into downtown, a Dufferin - Jane or Dufferin - Lawrence - Rexdale routing will likely attract higher ridership than a line along the lake could. However, I am not sure it should be built as a western extention of OL. OL at the Exhibition goes a bit too far...

More likely, they can replicate the King Street setup. Streetcars in the middle, local car traffic allowed (deliveries and taxis), right-in-right-out and no through auto traffic.

In this case, I would go with retaining the streetcar service, while tweaking some of the routes. For example, today both #501 and #502 cross Yonge. Once the OL opens, #501 can continue serving downtown while #502 can be shortened and just connect the Kingston Road loop to the closest OL...

That's reasonable, however some of the single family lots can be acquired much sooner than after a generation. Some owners will be happy to sell for a market+ price, and some will be convinced by the fact that the adjacent lots are being filled with highrises and the density around them is...