As little as possible is .. BRT.
As little as possible would be to do nothing and keep the 85 running as-is.
I would say yes, because the LRT would have a large cost to build, but the bus wouldn't, roads are already there. And the benefit that the LRT would provide compared to having a bus lane with less stops is marginal at best, so yeah, I'd say changing from subway to buses is okay in the case of Sheppard. Though, I'd prefer a subway extension to McCowan or STC.
Yeah, that's the thing about any LRT in this city. That said, Eglinton and Finch, if they open this year/decade might change the calculus, if operations are excellent. LOL.
Well, that's why i favour the LRT option. As far as I'm concerned, the argument that we've already built the line, let's extend it out is just a great example of the sunk cost fallacy. Once the OL northern extension reaches Don Mills then the concerns about linear transfers will be severely scaled back too.
-snip-
It's about crosstown travel that linear transfers will be a concern. Depending on a number of operational decisions regarding Sheppard West, which will not get built as LRT, it might force two transfers to continue in the same direction. Remember, the 84 terminates aimlessly west of Jane.
There simply will not be another rail alternative that allows suburb-to-suburb travel this far north again in Toronto. The York Sub is not an option, because CN will not agree to transit use on it ("here's the deal when we gave you Lakeshore ..."), and 407 is still light on destinations and too far north for Durham Region and City of Toronto travelers.
The cost/benefit envelope of LRT might change if we get construction costs under control. I do not believe that a $2 billion Sheppard East LRT (at $250 million/km, line with EELRT's estimated costs) would provide the ridership you'd want for such an investment. This could change if our construction costs go down.
Then again, if we get costs down, the business case of a subway improves as well.
I swear we've had this discussion before. The SRT wasn't bad because it used different vehicles from the rest of the system, it was bad because it used weirdly proprietary vehicles that didn't work well in the Toronto weather as
@T3G said, but also it was a tiny stub line that required a linear transfer, and the TTC basically didn't bother doing any maintenance on it.
The Canada Line in Vancouver also uses different rolling stock from the rest of the Skytrain Network (which by the way, uses the same technology as the SRT), and it works perfectly fine without any major issues.
We love going in circles, and circles, and circles ...
While there's a lot of debate about changing from subway to LRT, I wonder if swapping to the narrower Ontario Line trains could be an option?
I would imagine that the big cost issues here would be regauging the tracks + existing signalling/electronics (is it compatible with automated trains) + the need for a new yard vs just extending the line with the current TTC trains.
I'd like to see that option explored. Switching from one type of high-flloor vehicle to another type of high-floor shouldn't cost too much. There will be some up-front costs, but then the cost of expanding the line both east and west will be lower. And, a longer line will get more riders.
Unfortunately, the above is not likely to happen. The current round of expansion will be cheaper if the rolling stock type doesn't change. And then once it becomes a TTC subway from Sheppard West all the way to McCowan, changing the rollinbg stock will be too costly and out of question.
I said this a month ago about a conversion:
The larger cost wouldn't be the price of conversion, it would be the disruption to riders.
I don't know what the exact cost calculation of a conversion would be, but with the -ahem- fiscal imprudence of our governments in transit (and a whole lotta other things), I don't think they'd go for a conversion even if it would be cheaper overall (with tighter curves and smaller stations).
