syn
Senior Member
People have learned nothing since the election. You guys are practically begging for another Fordist mayoralty.
Unless people are going to push the RER with Smart Track hard as an alternative, the subway is going to happen. Pushing the LRT, and pushing it to obstruct Tory, will get another Fordist demagogue in power.
Some of you may see transit as solely some numbers issue of riders. It's become an equity issue, because the time it takes to transit is the largest determinant of quality of life and employment opportunity. Ride quality has only become an indicator to people, thanks to letting the SRT fall apart. You can work with these ideas or fight them. Your choice.
Steve Munro is exactly the type of guy who only sees riders as numbers and does not give a shit about their concerns or motivation in using public transit. If he truly cared about people, he'd have been pushing RER years ago instead of LRTs that stop every 500m.
If I lived in Rexdale, I'd gladly take a trip on an RT to a subway station instead of a long bus ride.
Taking transit from Browns Line is no walk in the park - an RT that could get me to Kipling station in 10 minutes or less would be fantastic.
A trip on the RT is easily preferable to a 30 mins or more snails pace crawl on the King or Queen Streetcar.
As a frequent transit user traveling all over the city, I find the RT to be one of the fastest and most convenient routes on the system. Even when it's crowded (which is almost entirely only during rush hour), the ride is very short - it's definitely preferable to a streetcar. The 'ride quality' is fantastic compared to other modes of transit, and Scarborough is currently the only area of the city that has a dedicated line (and has for many decades now).
Nobody seems to care about 'quality of life' for Rexdale commuters or those in other areas of the city. Why don't they get a subway?
What about all the people losing access to nearby rapid transit stations when they're all eliminated in favour of one stop?
If they'd went ahead with the LRT plan I'm sure people in Scarborough would be very happy with it right now.
Ride quality is not what's driving the desire for a subway - it's identity politics, something any politician can use anywhere. It's not something that will ever end if we continue to support it.
Understanding the experience of others is a wonderful thing - but there's little we can do for people that are, quite simply, too physically far from the downtown core for the removal of a transfer to have any real impact - especially when everyone is expected to pay billions to make it happen.