syn
Senior Member
a LOT of biased misinformation in here from an angry old man who didnt get his way (as are opinion pieces often)
"No other transit authority bought the system" - Not true, it is the backbone of the Vancouver Skytrain, the Detroit People Mover, the JFK airport connection in New York, and now many other systems as the technology was taken over by Bombardier as their Innovia Metro technology used in South Korea, Malaysia, China, etc etc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_Innovia_Metro
" It was supposed to be driverless. But drivers had to be added." At the insistence of the TTC. The driverless technology was excellent and has provided safe and reliable transit for decades in Vancouver. Meanwhile, 4 people lost their lives in Toronto from driver error on a TTC subway train in 1995.
The rest I agree with though, sort of. The subway is an epic waste of money, but so is the LRT.
The best bang for buck is and always was to upgrade and refurbish the existing SRT and extend it to Malvern Town Centre.
Unfortunately this opinion piece paints the SRT as some sort of failed and flawed system, so that idea gets thrown under the bus.
Its only failings and flaws are a direct result of the TTC's mismanagement of it. It works fine everywhere else. (ok maybe not Detroit but that is also because the system is woefully underbuilt)
My takeaway from the piece was not that the RT is some sort of failure, but that it's the result of ignoring professional transit advice in favour of politics.
Do I agree the current RT is a white elephant? No. But a grade separated streetcar line would've made more sense.