[andomano52]

so what's happening now with the rt? has a final decision been made for sure or will that be made the day the cars are finally run into the ground?

 

[Degnaw]

The report said that they would replace the current cars with the Mark II ones on the RT (no mention of the lrt system)

 

[dashingdan]

[sarcasm] Yes Mk II will solve the SRT's problems for sure. [/sarcasm]

Should have been a subway all along. No doubt. Wasting money upgrading obsolete technology to another obsolete technology is stupid.

 

[socialwoe]

With the scarcity of funding don't be surprised if the tracks aren't paved over and the SRT becomes a BRT route :rollin !

 

[Degnaw]

Don't be silly... Buses aren't two-ended!

 

[spmarshall]

Well, they could re-activate the loop at Kennedy Station (which was planned for CLRVs or ALRVs!)

Nothing's impossbile!

Now just don't tell Soberman!

 

[unimaginative2]

The Mark II cars are hardly obsolete. New systems using the technology have been built all over the world. That's not to say that maintaining the RT is the best option -- clearly the capacity is insufficient and the transfer is a deterrent to many potential riders.

 

[spmarshall]

Absolutely. The fact that the TTC needs the 131E is pathetic.

Would these Mark IIs have drivers (and be the only ones with drivers) to keep the people at ATU 113 happy? I loved the railfan seat in the Mark IIs in Vancouver.

Of course, the B-D extension is needed.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

What's pathetic is that the 131E, on occasion, is faster than transferring to the RT...

edit - and the Midland bus is also faster...I've narrowly missed the 57 at Kennedy station a million times but I've never been able to catch up to it by taking the RT to Midland station.

edit - if the RT had longer trains and was extended along Eglinton to meet up with a Don Mills rapid transit line going straight downtown, that would be lovely (would that be AreBe's RFT technology?), but the B/D extension is still the superior option. The ridership is there and everyone knows it. If the fare boundary at Steeles was removed somehow, Denison-area Markhamites would flood onto it in even greater numbers since it would allow you to travel from 14th to Yonge & Bloor in under an hour. Yes, the Stouffville line would get many to where they want to go quicker, but only with hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

"Now just don't tell Soberman!"

Soberman doesn't care what other people think...because of his "expertise," the TTC will spend over half a billion dollars on upgrading the RT to something that retains the transfer and will still probably have insufficient capacity - the only way it'll fit everyone in is if thousands stay away from the RT every day due to travel times and crowds as they currently do.

 

[socialwoe]

if the RT had longer trains and was extended along Eglinton to meet up with a Don Mills rapid transit line going straight downtown, that would be lovely (would that be AreBe's RFT technology?), but the B/D extension is still the superior option. The ridership is there and everyone knows it. If the fare boundary at Steeles was removed somehow, Denison-area Markhamites would flood onto it in even greater numbers since it would allow you to travel from 14th to Yonge & Bloor in under an hour. Yes, the Stouffville line would get many to where they want to go quicker, but only with hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades.

Wow! You're suggesting a compounded DRL/Eglinton/SRT/McCowan-Markville extravaganza and yet I'm the transwank one here? Yikes! God forbid anyone east or west of this 'line' (lunacy insanity nonsense [to the] extreme) get cheated out their chance for mass transit connectivity just because planners like you drew zig-zags across a map that make my map and it's jogs look tame by comparison, just saying!

 

[EnviroTO]

I really hope the politicians don't allow the SRT or any other non-subway, non-streetcar/tram, and non-bus compatible solution to remain there. It is a waste of money to have that unique fleet for such a small portion of the network. It is also silly to me that the first subway to SCC might not be taking people downtown when the majority of people taking transit from SCC are headed downtown.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

^ Right, ICTS technology wouldn't be useless if it was all over the city, but that's not a good reason to expand it...the subway is the only real option.

 

[EnviroTO]

What can ICTS do that an LRT compatible with streetcar track couldn't do? The streetcar vehicles are going to need an upgrade at some point and most streetcar/tram models are modular and can come in many lengths handling the same load as the ICTS vehicles. By standardizing on the future LRT fleet the TTC could save on maintenance and purchasing costs and the ability to expand the system and connect it with existing systems would be increased. The only options that make sense to me between Kennedy and SCC are subways on a simplified routing or LRT in a private ROW.

Looking at all the projects the TTC is working on or considering everything else fits in the subway, LRT/streetcar, and bus modes. I just don't see why the travel between Kennedy and SCC would be so unique as to need something completely different. Using a subway eliminates the transfer connecting to the Danforth line. Using a streetcar/tram/LRT could allow a southern extension connecting to a Kingston Road ROW, easy on street extensions beyond SCC, etc. Using ICTS Mk II gives Scarborough something unique in the city which provides no operational compatibility.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

"I just don't see why the travel between Kennedy and SCC would be so unique as to need something completely different."

The corridor certainly doesn't need something different...although it has needed a subway for the past 30 years. ICTS is useless in Toronto precisely because it's an orphaned stub.