In all the years I never thought scarborough didn’t deserve to get the same quality of transit as anywhere else in toronto. However I have yet to see any numbers by anyone that the sheppard extension makes sense. Yet this is what is in the process of happening. And it’s partially happening because Scarborough said no to the srt conversion. As much as I can be convinced that a subway to Scarborough town centre makes sense… I am never (next 50 years) be convinced that two subways to Scarborough town makes sense. If sheppard had to be extended because it was already built then they should have just built that would be my opinion. Again though now Scarborough is getting two lines and they will have close access to the Ontario line as well. North York as you pointed out, on the other hand, is getting one lrt. But Scarborough kicked and screamed and as much as I dislike the transit spending they won in the end. So credit to them.
Apologies, I don't think you read my response in it's entirety.
North York has absorbed the majority of all expansive transit funding in the last 5 decades. Saying Scarborough kicked and screamed and got what's undeserved lacks historical context. Scarborough deserves an equal opportunity to develop into a more sustainable built form and doing so will support the region and the city as a whole.
I used to think like you. I say this not in a condescending way. What you're saying makes sense. The ridership isn't there, the density isn't there to support a subway.
But after seeing the Scarborough RT get built to a greenfield, to becoming overcapacity in just a couple decades. And Sheppard East seeing enormous levels of development and built form along the line. Travelling to US cities where the Finch East bus carries more people than subway lines. I've changed my mind.
David Miller told us that we didn't need a new subway line downtown, the new streetcars were poised to ~double transit capacity. It's time we stop short-changing ourselves and our collective potential.
It's important that in Toronto's privileged context, considering population growth and political appetite for intensification, that we build for the future and not the intermediary.
From a network perspective, Sheppard should be extended as it serves no real use in it's current form. Connecting it to Agincourt GO and McCowan (2) is useful to people beyond Scarborough or Toronto as a whole. No it doesn't make much sense from a technical riders per km baseline for subway ridership. But in order to get people on transit we must create a useful and redundant network. Now does it have to be underground? That's another question entirely.