[rpgr]

One thing I wanted to mention about the 190 is usage during afternoon rush hour after the area between Don Mills and VP (or Warden) gets clogged (usually happens by 5:00PM but usually not before 4:50 PM, what a difference 10 min can make)...

Unless you're going all the way to STC it's actually about the same speed pretty much all the way to Warden and sometimes all the way to Kennedy. So instead of "waiting" for another 190 just take an 85 if it's leaving.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

190 drivers *do* make an effort to get through clogged traffic, though...they're more aggressive than 85 drivers. But, yes, if you just miss a 190 and an 85 is leaving, you might as well take it if you're getting off by Kennedy...the 190 is never slower than the 85, but at times the time savings are balanced out by quirks of frequency and traffic since they only overlap for 5km.

Having said that, though, imagine how much time would be saved if Sheppard had a rocket that went all the way to Morningside. Or how many people would switch to such a rocket route on any arterial route over 10-15+km.

 

[DENTROBATE54]

Having said that, though, imagine how much time would be saved if Sheppard had a rocket that went all the way to Morningside. Or how many people would switch to such a rocket route on any arterial route over 10-15+km.

By your definition of Rocket service, the 85 is already an express route i.e. most passenger pick-ups/drop-offs occur at north-south arterial roads and bipartites (Morningside, Brenyon, Neilson, Washburn, Progress, Markham, Shorting, McCowan, Brimley, Midland, Kennedy, Birchmount, Warden, Pharmacy, Victoria Park, Consumers).

BTW 191/192 are always overcrowded so I don't see how no one rides routes primarily reliant on highways?

 

[scarberiankhatru]

No, socialwoe, the 85 is not an express route.

 

[RedRocket191]

By your definition of Rocket service, the 85 is already an express route i.e. most passenger pick-ups/drop-offs occur at north-south arterial roads and bipartites (Morningside, Brenyon, Neilson, Washburn, Progress, Markham, Shorting, McCowan, Brimley, Midland, Kennedy, Birchmount, Warden, Pharmacy, Victoria Park, Consumers).

BTW 191/192 are always overcrowded so I don't see how no one rides routes primarily reliant on highways?

191 is overcrowded because it serves Humber College and Rexdale, one of the highest density neighbourhoods in the west end. People use it as an alternative to the 46 Martin Grove, which is already overcrowded within 1 concession of its starting point. The fact that it runs on the highway is only a footnote.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Adding a direct express bus from Fairview to STC (edit - on the highway) is one thing, but doing it at the expense of the 190, by removing a successful rocket route from Sheppard that over 8000 people a day find very useful, is just sooo wrong.

 

[doady]

192 is not overcrowded. 191 is the one that is overcrowded.

 

[DENTROBATE54]

Adding a direct express bus from Fairview to STC (edit - on the highway) is one thing, but doing it at the expense of the 190, by removing a successful rocket route from Sheppard that over 8000 people a day find very useful, is just sooo wrong.

Scarberian I never, ever stated that local service must be removed from Sheppard East entirely. Please stop misquoting me! If that were the case I would not have advocated for Sheppard East LRT as much as I did because I see real value in getting residents to their destinations quickly. Is that not the point of a transit network? Tell yourself that corridors need a bus every 90 seconds while some areas are getting once-an-hour service. You're taking up vehicles that could be routed elsewhere, meanwhile people in need of nodal areas are subjected to 25 minutes on the 190. Reducing the number of stops or eliminating a very pointless tour of the 401 industrial lands are methods of saving time on long commutes. 8000 commuters? Better yet, 8000 commuters equally capable to board a 85 bus en route to Don Mills? Call the presses !

 

[W. K. Lis]

With 2 of the TTC's 4 Scarborough RT options mentioning replacing it with LRT, what could it look like with LRT?

Using Seattle's Transit Link photos as examples, let's have a look at a possibility:

At least the snow could be less of a problem.

 

[jks]

^^That would be awesome!! Considering the TTC will never seriously consider the subway extension, converting it to LRT is a great idea!! I mean, it's not like the capacity will go down, and snow wouldn't be as much of a problem =P!

 

[CDL.TO]

Now that's what I call a hardcore LRT implementation.

 

[Second_in_pie]

Maybe with a higher-capacity LRT car, but the SRT would look good with LRT technology. I'm not sure, but I think bigger LRT cars would have higher capacity than the ICTS, no?

I'd like to point out that a faster and higher capacity LRT would also work well on the whole Sheppard run, and if it does not end up being built as a subway, Eglinton.

 

[kettal]

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/l...port-to-scrap-scarborough-rt-councillors-says

Growing support to scrap Scarborough RT, councillors says

Growing support to scrap Scarborough RT, councillors says. A Scarborough RT train makes its way into the Scarborough Town Centre. File photo
Support is building to scrap the Scarborough RT in 2015 and replace it with a light-rail line - even though that would stretch out a painful construction period along the route, Scarborough Centre Councillor Michael Thompson says.
The RT, an aging monorail system from Kennedy Station to McCowan Road, is nearing the end of its working life.

Scarborough councillors agreed to support an RT upgrade to a new generation of technology - with larger trains similar to those on Vancouver's SkyTrain system - but Thompson said that was before Toronto's Transit City plan, which promises, eventually, a complete city-wide light-rail network.

Thompson said light rail is better and it's not in Scarborough's interests to have a rapid-transit system which, like the current RT, doesn't match anything else in Toronto.

"Scarborough is sick and tired of orphan technology," Thompson told Scarborough Community Council last week.

"We know (the Scarborough) RT is having problems related to cold weather. The technical problems will not be solved (by the upgrade)," he argued.

But Thompson, who maintains research shows the city's chosen light-rail technology performs well in cold countries such as Sweden, added construction time for the upgrade is an estimated eight months, compared to three-years for a light-rail makeover.

The work and disruption of the line could also force major inconveniences. Though later saying he heard it as unofficial "chatter," Thompson mentioned a "possibility exists Brimley (Road) would be closed to cars altogether and only buses allowed" during RT construction.

Scarborough councillors decided to ask the TTC and provincial agency Metrolinx for a report on light-rail conversion of the RT - which, including an optional extension to Malvern, may cost more than $1 billion to build.

They also asked for an update on the Transit City plan and impacts it may have on Scarborough.

While lending support to a TTC recommendation for the Sheppard East light-rail connection at Don Mills Station - a tunnel under Hwy. 404 instead of a short Sheppard subway extension to Consumers Road - councillors seized the chance to re-affirm their support for extending the Sheppard East LRT to the Toronto Zoo.

TTC officials have said the zoo extension was left out of the Sheppard East environmental assessment (EA) so it could finish quicker.

But several Scarborough councillors, Glenn De Baeremaeker among them, aren't satisfied with the line's current terminus at Sheppard and Meadowvale Avenue, "where there's a gas station and nothing else," De Baeremaeker said.

Unlike the zoo, the Meadowvale site has "virtually no place to park," he added. "You need somewhere that's warm in the winter, has washrooms, a Kiss 'n' Ride."

Scarborough-Agincourt Councillor Norm Kelly also voiced support for extending a branch line to Scarborough Town Centre, a place he considers "the key mobility hub" in Toronto's east end. That extension was also not included in the EA.

Asked to comment on when its own recommendations and construction-time estimates would be ready for the RT, the TTC said through a spokesperson Tuesday, Sept. 22, that it continues to review them.

"The TTC hopes to resolve some key scope issues by the end of the year, which may include the selection of the preferred technology," a statement said, adding that, "a plan for bus service (during construction) has yet to be developed, so the TTC is not in position to comment on potential road impacts."

Though the TTC says the alignment decision for Sheppard East LRT at Don Mills "resolves the last outstanding matter related" to the project EA, a precise starting date for construction, promised for this fall, is not known.

--> <---

 

[Long Island Mike]

The mid 80s era Scarborough LRT...its future...

Kettal: Interesting news on replacing the UTDC-designed 80s era Scarborough LRT - in my opinion this should be an extension of the Bloor-Danforth Subway instead of a forced-transfer LRT that would also have a long construction lead time. Getting a one-seat ride W would make matters easier for the riders of this line! Thoughts from LI MIKE

 

[kEiThZ]

That's a consolation prize but I'll take it. Rather have LRTs in common with the rest of the city than an orphan RT. Subway till STC at least would still have been better. But at least now they'll have some savings from commonality. And there's also the possibility of inter-lining services. I hope this goes through.