[rbt]

This surface section construction seems to go pretty fast. But let's go underground in the West instead and finish it by 2040

2040 seems very optimistic at the moment. Subways at any cost will not win the next provincial election and this proposal needs to survive an election during high deficits, low transit ridership, and voter demand for health-care expansion. Ford has a good chance of winning again, but not with the same priorities he ran on last time.

 

[drum118]

The whole eastern end is coming along remarkably well. I live in the east end and can finally see this nearing completion. I mentioned to my folks that we are likely to see track installation completed by the end of the summer.

I will be very surprise if all the track is not in place on the surface along with a chunk of the overhead come Sept. There where a number of empty spool for underground cable and few with not much left on the around 3" dia.

The big change will come in June/July when Kennedy Intersection will be back to being normal once the back filling is done, along with new roads and sidewalks.

As for the west extension, With the COVID-19, transit is going to take a serious cut in getting things built. Any idea of maintaining the thought of fully grade separation will be put on the back burner for a number of decades due to cost and lack of funds for it that the surface route will be back on the table. It may take a decade before it gets underway as ridership system wide will take a major hit.

Health care will become a number 1 issue with all parties and it will cause major changes from top to bottom that will eat up a huge chunk of funds from all levels, leaving transit with peanuts.

How people will work in the coming year and decade, will see a drop in need for transit expansion. A number of companies are already looking at reducing the need for workers to travel to work. My daughter company is already looking at her coming in once or twice a week and that will save her no less than a hour a day of traveling by highway to/from work and having to replace a car every 3 years.

Most cities I saw on Monday, very little foot traffic or using transit. Guelph has the lowest number of people allow on a bus and that 10. Only 7-15 on the KW LRT, with the driver opening and closing the doors like TTC. The front seats behind the driver tape off.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

2040 seems very optimistic at the moment. Subways at any cost will not win the next provincial election and this proposal needs to survive an election during high deficits, low transit ridership, and voter demand for health-care expansion. Ford has a good chance of winning again, but not with the same priorities he ran on last time.

I think 2040 for the crosstown line opening is a bit extreme the latest I could see it opening would be summer or fall 2022

 

[H4F33Z]

I think 2040 for the crosstown line opening is a bit extreme the latest I could see it opening would be summer or fall 2022

I think he was referring to the 2040 opening of the Eglinton West LRT. A major line in Doug's plan which might be put on the backburner post covid

 

[Johnny Au]

I will be very surprise if all the track is not in place on the surface along with a chunk of the overhead come Sept. There where a number of empty spool for underground cable and few with not much left on the around 3" dia.

The big change will come in June/July when Kennedy Intersection will be back to being normal once the back filling is done, along with new roads and sidewalks.

As for the west extension, With the COVID-19, transit is going to take a serious cut in getting things built. Any idea of maintaining the thought of fully grade separation will be put on the back burner for a number of decades due to cost and lack of funds for it that the surface route will be back on the table. It may take a decade before it gets underway as ridership system wide will take a major hit.

Health care will become a number 1 issue with all parties and it will cause major changes from top to bottom that will eat up a huge chunk of funds from all levels, leaving transit with peanuts.

How people will work in the coming year and decade, will see a drop in need for transit expansion. A number of companies are already looking at reducing the need for workers to travel to work. My daughter company is already looking at her coming in once or twice a week and that will save her no less than a hour a day of traveling by highway to/from work and having to replace a car every 3 years.

Most cities I saw on Monday, very little foot traffic or using transit. Guelph has the lowest number of people allow on a bus and that 10. Only 7-15 on the KW LRT, with the driver opening and closing the doors like TTC. The front seats behind the driver tape off.

Work from home is becoming a popular option, especially with the rise in teleconferencing, reducing the need to commute.

In a few years, online education would become the norm for children.

 

[H4F33Z]

Work from home is becoming a popular option, especially with the rise in teleconferencing, reducing the need to commute.

In a few years, online education would become the norm for children.

I disagree with everything you said, but I know this isn't the place to talk about that. But online work and school is not an excuse for govts to stop transit expansion.

 

[max]

My daughter company is already looking at her coming in once or twice a week and that will save her no less than a hour a day of traveling by highway to/from work and having to replace a car every 3 years.

What does your daughter do to her car that wears it out in 3 years?

 

[drum118]

What does your daughter do to her car that wears it out in 3 years?

She gets another one either leasing or buying it as she puts over 100,000 km on it.

 

[toronto647]

Honestly I agree about the transit priority comments individuals are making however at this point the focus should be entirely on completing the crosstown. Remember we still have crosstown west (to the airport) and crosstown east (to UTSC/PanAm Centre) so all the focus should be on getting those approved and shovels in the ground. Once that occurs and this line is guaranteed to really be "crosstown" in nature and the we can start discussions about priority signalling. At this point it is a waste of time and we should all be advocating and spending our energy on getting both ends completed ASAP.

 

[drum118]

Honestly I agree about the transit priority comments individuals are making however at this point the focus should be entirely on completing the crosstown. Remember we still have crosstown west (to the airport) and crosstown east (to UTSC/PanAm Centre) so all the focus should be on getting those approved and shovels in the ground. Once that occurs and this line is guaranteed to really be "crosstown" in nature and the we can start discussions about priority signalling. At this point it is a waste of time and we should all be advocating and spending our energy on getting both ends completed ASAP.

Welcome to the decade or century when transit gets built in Toronto, not the ASAP.

Yonge Line approved 1910 and Open When??
Queen St Underground approved 1910, 1940 and still not built.
DRL been around since 1908 and still not built
Transit City to be built 2008, scrap by Rob Ford 2010
QQE was to be built 2010 and still waiting.
Look at the history of what was proposed to be built over the decades to see if any of it was built.
Talk is cheap, but until the money is on the table, what decade will it happen, especially with the COVID-19 mess??

 

[rbt]

I think 2040 for the crosstown line opening is a bit extreme the latest I could see it opening would be summer or fall 2022

I meant for the yet to be tendered West extension.

 

[Streety McCarface]

Welcome to the decade or century when transit gets built in Toronto, not the ASAP.

Yonge Line approved 1910 and Open When??
Queen St Underground approved 1910, 1940 and still not built.
DRL been around since 1908 and still not built
Transit City to be built 2008, scrap by Rob Ford 2010
QQE was to be built 2010 and still waiting.
Look at the history of what was proposed to be built over the decades to see if any of it was built.
Talk is cheap, but until the money is on the table, what decade will it happen, especially with the COVID-19 mess??

Don't forget:
Eglinton West Subway approved in the 80s, under construction in the 90s, scrapped and filled. Replaced with an LRT 30 years later
Sheppard (full) approved in the 80s, truncated on both ends and remains a stub to this day
Streetcar abandonment ever since the 50s
Scarborough and Etobicoke Light Rail since the 70s, an FM solution built in Scarborough and nothing built in Etobicoke. Subway delayed at least 10 years, probably 20-30
Lack of Streetcar system capacity enhancements (Despite exploding ridership)
Signal Block signaling on half the subway system for the foreseeable future
No Official Obico Yard plans
Signal priority BS on the 501, 509, 510, 511, 512, 514
SOGR deferring

Transit has been screwed in this city for decades and it's not just a few potential subway extensions.

 

[Towered]

Don't forget:
Eglinton West Subway approved in the 80s, under construction in the 90s, scrapped and filled. Replaced with an LRT 30 years later
Sheppard (full) approved in the 80s, truncated on both ends and remains a stub to this day
Streetcar abandonment ever since the 50s
Scarborough and Etobicoke Light Rail since the 70s, an FM solution built in Scarborough and nothing built in Etobicoke. Subway delayed at least 10 years, probably 20-30
Lack of Streetcar system capacity enhancements (Despite exploding ridership)
Signal Block signaling on half the subway system for the foreseeable future
No Official Obico Yard plans
Signal priority BS on the 501, 509, 510, 511, 512, 514
SOGR deferring

Transit has been screwed in this city for decades and it's not just a few potential subway extensions.

It's Toronto's Great Shame. I don't expect the regressive civic culture here to ever change significantly enough to make such projects a reality within a reasonable time frame. Now with the pandemic, the politicians will have yet another convenient excuse to avoid investing in transit expansion for another generation.

 

[sixrings]

If because of the pandemic more people will be working from home and less people are converting maybe we can all save some money and time and transfer this plan to Transit City.

 

[Streety McCarface]

If because of the pandemic more people will be working from home and less people are converting maybe we can all save some money and time and transfer this plan to Transit City.

No.

If the city/metrolinx can't build light rail with proper signal priority, then I'd rather see nothing built on most of the other transit city corridors (Sheppard East, Don Mills, Eglinton East unless they split the line at Laird or Science Centre). Jane and Waterfront can stay, but building "rapid transit" that's going to be slower than the bus is an insanely asinine use of funds, especially if ridership is supposed to drop.

I'd rather see one DRL to Sheppard built than all of Transit City come to fruition under the current signal priority recommendations. Hell, I'd prefer the SSE over getting a 12 km/h LRT on Eglinton East + Sheppard + McCowan + Steeles in Scarborough alone. At least with the former, I won't have to wait at a stoplight.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was a Metrolinx decision to try and kill on-surface LRT.