The Relief Line North will connect to some of Canada’s densest communites at Flemingdon and Throncliffe Park, it will connect to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT (and likely EELRT as well), it will connect to bus routes at Larwrence, York Mills, Sheppard and Finch, and regional bus routes as well. A very substantial portion of Toronto’s busiest routes will intersect this line. Connectivity is the least of the problems with then DRL NORTH.
As I said before, north of Eglinton. It will not connect to the finch bus as far as planning is concerned so far. My argument is that you need strong crosstown rapid transit or higher order transit routes along the path of DRL north to make it worthwhile for Yonge line commuters to use it. Right now it can take upwards of 20 minutes on a bus during the off-peak times to travel from Yonge St to Don Mills. Most commuters closer to Yonge (where all the density is) will not accept that as an alternative, and with the SSE coming, many people will choose that line over the Don Mills line north of Eglinton and east of Victoria Park. My argument is that there needs to be a greater network of surface routes and other forms of rapid transit along the Don Mills line north of Eglinton because there will be so few stations and little density when it opens.
It is very possible to build rapid transit in the suburbs without building subways. The fact of the matter is we've spent two to three generations building subways in the suburbs and the results are quite clear. It's time to focus on actual need.
The DRL will transform the subway system for everyone, and as Alvin has pointed out, it doesn't have to be done in one shot. The first phase should make a world of difference to transit users.
DRL north is technically in the suburbs. Should we revert to the Don Mills LRT? I think not. Should the subway west of Old Mill and East of Main St Station have been built? Absolutely. It may have not been full when it opened, but they most certainly serve hundreds of thousands of commuters daily. The demand along the Yonge Line and crowded Bloor, Danforth, and university lines would not be there had these subways not been built. No one here is denying that the DRL long needs to be built. It should have been built before the extension to Vaughan, we get it, we all agree. However, it is this mindset against planning for the future that got us into this transit mess we are in now, and will only continue unless we build for the future, and I'm not talking 20 years into the future, but 60 years into the future.
I am not against LRT, or alternate technology in the suburbs, and I am not for sheppard or scarborough subways before DRL long is completed. I just don't believe the ttc or the city is doing enough to plan for the future. We have a huge fare recovery ratio. It may seem impressive, but it shows that we're stingy and unable to provide a buffer of service to make commuting enjoyable. LRT lines should be built, but along corridors that won't see much growth and have significant ridership. I'm looking at York Mills, Wilson, Jane, Finch, Ellesmere, Lawrence, Even Eglinton East and West. Growth is expected in significant amounts along Eglinton, Sheppard, Don Mills, Dufferin, and the Portlands. Those corridors are perfect for subway building. They may not be full in 5 or even 15 years, but ridership will grow and they will be seen as worthwhile investments. I sent a video of the sheppard subway outside of rush hour. It was standing room only. I don't know about you, but for a stubway, that's incredible. Dozens of cities would beg for that kind of ridership. It's not good transit planning to build lines that will be at or near capacity when they open, it's actually a huge waste of resources because an inadequate system is built.