[gweed123]

If the Conservatives are smart, they will put all future GTHA transit money in the next few years towards turbocharging GO's development. For example, advancing plans for electrification. That's the biggest bang for the buck. On both transit and votes.

If it hasn't been politically sexy for the Provincial Liberals, I doubt it would be sexy for the Federal Conservatives. From what I've seen, politicians like projects that can benefit toss-up ridings. This usually means local transit.

But yes, it would be nice if some politicians recognized the value in a GO REX implementation.

 

[Translude15]

Very good points. I think there's one thing that people are missing though: it doesn't have to be the Federal Cons who pony up for the DRL. The Federal Liberals could very well make it an election plank, along with transit funding for other cities. I'm thinking particularly Ottawa, who by 2015 will have the Western LRT extension EA completed, and Vancouver, who will be looking for funding for the Broadway-UBC corridor.

The Liberals could also make a dent in the 905 by stepping up to the plate on some big 905 projects (Yonge North Subway extension anybody?). The Federal Conservatives are unlikely to invest in transit, but 2015 is right around the corner, so we may see some interesting policy moves by other parties in order to win the 'transit vote'.

Absolutely. I'm not familiar with Ottawa's future transit initiatives, but the Broadway-UBC corridor has been on the Vancouver transit agenda for some time now. From my understanding, the general consensus there is that UBC's continued growth warrants a legitimate transit link to the rest of the city, not to mention West Point Grey is one of the most affluent areas in the region.

The Conservatives could be poised to make a run at obtaining some traditionally non-Conservative seats in these central urban ridings, especially in Vancouver, but again, the Liberals are perfectly capable of making the same transit-oriented election promises.

 

[gweed123]

Absolutely. I'm not familiar with Ottawa's future transit initiatives, but the Broadway-UBC corridor has been on the Vancouver transit agenda for some time now. From my understanding, the general consensus there is that UBC's continued growth warrants a legitimate transit link to the rest of the city, not to mention West Point Grey is one of the most affluent areas in the region.

The Conservatives could be poised to make a run at obtaining some traditionally non-Conservative seats in these central urban ridings, especially in Vancouver, but again, the Liberals are perfectly capable of making the same transit-oriented election promises.

The Liberal vote outside of the Maritimes has traditionally been urban/suburban oriented. This makes them the natural party to propose such funding. They could even take a bold move and propose funding an expansion of Calgary's C-Train system.

But yes, I could very much see them putting forward a proposal to help fund Toronto's Downtown Relief Line and North Yonge extension, Vancouver's Broadway-UBC SkyTrain, Ottawa's Western LRT extension, maybe Mississauga's Hurontario LRT and Hamilton's LRT, and a project or two in Montreal and Calgary (not sure what their priorities are right now). For transit-oriented urban and suburban voters, attaching funding to those projects would go a long way to securing urban and suburban ridings.

 

[MisterF]

While I can't stand Rob Ford, the forced transfer at Kennedy was always a bit silly so I'm glad to see the line extended to STC. Mind you, they're eliminating one needless transfer and creating another one at McCowan and Sheppard. The Sheppard LRT should go right to STC; linking NYCC to STC was the whole reason a mass transit line was proposed in that corridor in the first place.

The Relief Line is a necessity but it's not going to do anything for most downtown residents.

Why do you say that? The relief line would have multiple stations in the downtown east and west. These are some of the most densely populated, fastest growing neighbourhoods in the city and the DRL would directly serve them.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

People keep saying this. I don't see it. A subway extension to McCowan would be at least $5 billion. That's a lot of money. Even t. feds don't want to pitch in to that. I could sooner see them pitching in to a conversion of the stubway to LRT than an extension of it.

And I can actually see a conversion happen. Combine it with some in-fill stations and it's not a tough pitch.

Oh no. It's LRT and LRT is bahhd.

But seriously, I agree with you. The Sheppard Stub isn't being extended. No way in hell that Council will approve spending that kind of money for that line. Plus that money would be better spent extending the DRL from Danforth to Don Mills and beyond to relieve the Yonge Subway.

 

[Bojaxs]

Countless studies have shown that the more transfers people have to make in order to commute, the more likely the are to drive instead of using transit.

Therefore I would like to see the Sheppard subway converted to LRT and extend eastward to McCowan and westward to Downsview. Make the Scarborough portion above ground, and make the westward extension underground to Downsview.

The Sheppard line doesn't have the ridership for a subway, so why not replace it with a LRT and make it a seamless, transfer-less LRT line?

 

[Tulse]

While I can't stand Rob Ford, the forced transfer at Kennedy was always a bit silly

No offense, but this argument has always seemed ridiculous to me. Why isn't the "forced transfer" from the Spadina Line to the Spadina LRT equally silly? What about all the "forced transfers" to buses at Kipling -- are they silly as well?

The transit mode should be determined by demand, and not just to avoid transfers.

 

[Adjei]

People keep saying this. I don't see it. A subway extension to McCowan would be at least $5 billion. That's a lot of money. Even the feds don't want to pitch in to that. I could sooner see them pitching in to a conversion of the stubway to LRT than an extension of it.

And I can actually see a conversion happen. Combine it with some in-fill stations and it's not a tough pitch.

5 billion? That's way too much maybe like 3 billion, unless you also include an extension west to downsview station.

 

[Adjei]

Countless studies have shown that the more transfers people have to make in order to commute, the more likely the are to drive instead of using transit.

Therefore I would like to see the Sheppard subway converted to LRT and extend eastward to McCowan and westward to Downsview. Make the Scarborough portion above ground, and make the westward extension underground to Downsview.

The Sheppard line doesn't have the ridership for a subway, so why not replace it with a LRT and make it a seamless, transfer-less LRT line?

Not politically feasible..

 

[syn]

While I can't stand Rob Ford, the forced transfer at Kennedy was always a bit silly so I'm glad to see the line extended to STC. Mind you, they're eliminating one needless transfer and creating another one at McCowan and Sheppard. The Sheppard LRT should go right to STC; linking NYCC to STC was the whole reason a mass transit line was proposed in that corridor in the first place.



Why do you say that? The relief line would have multiple stations in the downtown east and west. These are some of the most densely populated, fastest growing neighbourhoods in the city and the DRL would directly serve them.

If I'm correct this extension still serves less people than the LRT. If you're taking a bus, which many people will, you still have to transfer anyways.

The sad thing about this is that Ford is now touting this as a great achievement on his end, when it really doesn't come close to filling his original promise and had less to do with him and more to do with votes.

 

[gweed123]

Not politically feasible..

Just wait until the Eglinton and Sheppard LRTs open. The Eglinton LRT will show that an LRT with a tunnelled central section is just as efficient as a subway, and the Sheppard East LRT will show just how big of a PITA that transfer will be, and people will be screaming for some sort of solution to fix it.

People will look at Eglinton and say "hey, that works, why don't we do the same thing on Sheppard?". I agree that now though it is politically unfeasible, but that's because of the sky-high level of rhetoric surrounding transit, and the lack of anything of similar operation existing in Toronto.

 

[SixPoints]

If I'm correct this extension still serves less people than the LRT. If you're taking a bus, which many people will, you still have to transfer anyways.

If the extension goes up McCowan, won't the redevelopment opportunities be far greater than where the RT is currently situated? The RT was too far off the main roads in my opinion.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

If the extension goes up McCowan, won't the redevelopment opportunities be far greater than where the RT is currently situated? The RT was too far off the main roads in my opinion.

Probably. But building transit based on potential redevelopment has always been a bad idea.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

People keep saying this. I don't see it. A subway extension to McCowan would be at least $5 billion. That's a lot of money. Even the feds don't want to pitch in to that. I could sooner see them pitching in to a conversion of the stubway to LRT than an extension of it.

And I can actually see a conversion happen. Combine it with some in-fill stations and it's not a tough pitch.

True but Harper is all about buying votes. 5 billion wont be a lot if the GTA, province and Ottawa don't want it to be.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

While I can't stand Rob Ford, the forced transfer at Kennedy was always a bit silly so I'm glad to see the line extended to STC. Mind you, they're eliminating one needless transfer and creating another one at McCowan and Sheppard. The Sheppard LRT should go right to STC; linking NYCC to STC was the whole reason a mass transit line was proposed in that corridor in the first place.



Why do you say that? The relief line would have multiple stations in the downtown east and west. These are some of the most densely populated, fastest growing neighbourhoods in the city and the DRL would directly serve them.

Then it's just another line. Relief indicates it should be relieving Yonge. It should have fewer stops.