[...]
De Baeremaeker notes the daily
ridership for the extension is projected to be 64,000 (a number city staff projected for 2031). It’s an estimate that projects the number of people getting on and off at Scarborough Centre station in 2031.
The councillor compares that number to the station usage elsewhere in the system, noting it would have the third highest usage after Dundas West and Kennedy stations.
When you compare that stretch of tunnel to other six kilometre sections in the existing subway system, the Scarborough subway extension will see by far the least amount of transit users, even less than the five-stop Sheppard subway — Line 4, which runs 5.5 kilometres — which is sometimes called a “white elephant” of transit lines.
The subway will also be below capacity in the rush hour period by 2031, projected to carry just 7,400 people in the busiest hour in the busiest direction. That is well below the accepted minimum threshold used to justify a subway at 15,000 people and the maximum capacity of 36,000 people.
An LRT can carry a maximum 15,000 people an hour — more than twice the number of rush hour riders anticipated for Scarborough.