Oh good, you're going on yet another tangent,
Ok, let's pretend that 200,000 riders come out of the woodwork and all rush on to the new Eglinton Subway. Not LRT. Subway. Unless they just like to go to random destinations along Eglinton during rush hour (very few do), they will have to transfer to an intersecting transit route... like, say, Yonge. Oops, I just remembered, Yonge is already beyond capacity TODAY.
A DRL as far north as Eglinton in both the east and west would be required LONG before Eg ridership gets anywhere near subway levels. And guess what such a DRL's existence does? It makes any Eglinton subway totally redundant in terms of peak direction capacity.
Oh really, in AM peak we wouldn't have passenger flows to the affect of Mississauga/Brampton > Airport area > northern Etobicoke > Weston/Mt Dennis/York Centre > Spadina Line north > Yonge-Eglinton < Don Mills < Golden Mile < eastern Scarborough in high enough volumes to justify the expense of subways? Get serious. Close to one-quarter of Bloor-Danforth users alone stem from the 905, so by giving them an alternative more proximal to major population centres like SQ1, Erin Mills, Malton, Bramalea - they'll have greater incentive to switch. What's one-quarter of 480,000 riders? 120,000. I wonder how heavily the TTC's consultants mulled over that number before they threw out a projected ridership level of 5400 by 2031.
Today with no subway, the TTC's own stats tell a different story:
58 Malton = 11,250 of 15,000ppd or 703pphpd
112 West Mall = 3850 of 7700ppd or 241pphpd
111 East Mall = 3050 of 6100ppd or 191pphpd
46 Martin Grove = 8050 of 16,100ppd or 503pphpd
45 Kipling = 9250 of 18,500ppd or 578pphpd
37 Islington = 8300 of 16,600ppd of 519pphpd
73 Royal York = 8900ppd or 556.25pphpd
76 Scarlett = 7400ppd or 463pphpd
35 Jane = 19,500 of 39000ppd or 1219pphpd
89 Weston = 10,650 of 14,200ppd or 666pphpd
32 Eglinton West = 20,550 of 41,100 or 1284pphpd
---
Total for Eglinton West subway= 110,750ppd or 6922pphpd
You might claim that I'm being overly generous in my prediction of how many riders would switch, but this is just examplar of how we can coalesce various factors when determining density and demand levels. So if Etobicoke/Richview is producing these passengers volumes coming in, I can only imagine what the more densely populated areas through the central and eastern Eglinton corridor would yield with even more walk-in users. Under a light-rail system, you might see a small spike in ridership over the bus routes replaced (baring in mind the greater inconveniences they'll pose for riders - lower speeds in some cases, less frequency, less local stops, leaving the safety of the sidewalk in order to access it). However under a subway system with guaranteed speeds and frequency, most of those 6900 pph would be foolish not to transfer off at Eglinton.
Lastly, regarding the DRL, will residents living between Don Mills and Weston Rd travel counter-flow to the DRL when going downtown? Probably not. DRL and Eglinton should not be competing lines, both are critically needed. This is what I like about the DRLNow map. It recognizes that the airport is a primary destination for close to 100k travellers and area workers per day. Ideally we build Eglinton as a subway now because it allows us the opportunity to grant residents direct access to the airport no matter where they reside in the city. Interlining both Eglinton and the DRL between PIA and Mt Dennis before they branch off their separate ways is a sound investment that would generate frequent service both inbound and outbound all throughout the day. But even ahead of a DRL west extension through to Mt Dennis (a low priority for the forseeable future), Eglinton subway would still be alleviating the Yonge Line because many passnegers would simply disembark at Allen Stn to avoid the hordes coming down the pike from North York/York Region.