[nfitz]

I don't know -- it might get complicated.

Your right of course. Whatever is done has to be simple. The issue is that operating funding for TTC comes primarily from the fare box, and the City of Toronto (i.e. Toronto property taxes). Perhaps once Presto is fully implemented, there'd be better data available on how many riders every day on TTC have their origins outside the city.

 

[GenerationW]

What do you mean hardly ... further down you say

Hang on ... here you say they did seriously discuss it. You can't have it both ways.

You can if you realize I was quoting you. But the real point is that the DRL was brought up for study only in reaction to Yonge. Miller & Giambrone never proposed and promoted a DRL. And we still don't know the results of that study.

In February 2005 council passed a motion that the Spadina Subway Extension to Steeles Avenue is Toronto’s top priority for subway expansion. Why are you trying to rewrite history?

Purely a face-saving motion. Even though the official Spadina announcement came in March 2006, the 2004 battle between Miller's Sheppard extension and Sorbara's Spadina extension was over by early 2005.

 

[BMO]

The DRL has been touted ever since the 1970's as a line using the rail corridor going west from Union up to Weston, and under weston rd. There was an article on it last year in the star, I'll edit this post if I can find it.

 

[xtremesniper]

Why not? Has anyone seriously looked at this? There would surely be all kinds of institutional hurdles, between who owns what tracks and which agency can play nicely with which. I get that. But surely these are solvable problems.

Well even if the Richmond Hill and Stouffville GO lines are upgraded to all-day service (a long way off despite ridership, unfortunately), I'd say it's still not a great solution for a lot of the people who currently use the TTC to go from the 905 to the downtown area.

Why, you ask?

Because if you go to U of T and need to get to College St, or if you want to get to Bloor or any other part of Toronto that isn't between the Lake and King Street, you'd have to take the TTC northbound to your destination anyway. This eliminates any cost benefits of avoiding a double-fare by taking the GO, and it makes people just use the TTC from the beginning instead of the GO.

 

[sixrings]

Because if you go to U of T and need to get to College St, or if you want to get to Bloor or any other part of Toronto that isn't between the Lake and King Street, you'd have to take the TTC northbound to your destination anyway.

Most 905 commuters who use GO I would GUESS would not be in favour of adding additional GO stops in Toronto. For instance a few lines could stop at Eglinton to allow 905ers off and also 416ers on. However I would GUESS that most 905ers wouldnt like the additional stops since it might slow down their trips to union. Are you suggesting otherwise? I think many Torontonians would be happy with some extra GO stops in Toronto...

 

[gweed123]

Most 905 commuters who use GO I would GUESS would not be in favour of adding additional GO stops in Toronto. For instance a few lines could stop at Eglinton to allow 905ers off and also 416ers on. However I would GUESS that most 905ers wouldnt like the additional stops since it might slow down their trips to union. Are you suggesting otherwise? I think many Torontonians would be happy with some extra GO stops in Toronto...

With electrification the acceleration and deceleration times would be reduced, so an extra few seconds at a couple extra stops isn't going to make that much of a difference. Plus, with all due respect to the 905ers who would complain about it: screw you. 416ers have just as much of a right to access GO as 905ers do. If you complain about how a couple extra 416 stops are slowing down your trip, move a few stops closer to your destination.

 

[CDL.TO]

The DRL has been touted ever since the 1970's as a line using the rail corridor going west from Union up to Weston, and under weston rd. There was an article on it last year in the star, I'll edit this post if I can find it.

I've never heard that before. Please post the article if you can find it.

 

[Swarley]

The DRL has been touted ever since the 1970's as a line using the rail corridor going west from Union up to Weston, and under weston rd. There was an article on it last year in the star, I'll edit this post if I can find it.

I really can't see how a subway under Weston Rd could be justified.

 

[BMO]

I really can't see how a subway under Weston Rd could be justified.

It was apparently justified back in the day...the article went along the lines of "the TTC is using new technology put into a computer system that identifies a likely route..." or something like that, and it showed a route extending from Union down the rail corridor up and down weston rd a bit. I think the article might even be in the DRL thread, i'll check.

 

[k10ery]

Because if you go to U of T and need to get to College St, or if you want to get to Bloor or any other part of Toronto that isn't between the Lake and King Street, you'd have to take the TTC northbound to your destination anyway. This eliminates any cost benefits of avoiding a double-fare by taking the GO, and it makes people just use the TTC from the beginning instead of the GO.

Seems to me GO+Bixi is the answer here.

 

[ReThink]

With electrification the acceleration and deceleration times would be reduced, so an extra few seconds at a couple extra stops isn't going to make that much of a difference. Plus, with all due respect to the 905ers who would complain about it: screw you. 416ers have just as much of a right to access GO as 905ers do. If you complain about how a couple extra 416 stops are slowing down your trip, move a few stops closer to your destination.

Indeed, electrification along with greater frequency and some express trains should be enough to ease concerns.

 

[BMO]

Indeed, electrification along with greater frequency and some express trains should be enough to ease concerns.

Unfortunately the Richmond Hill GO line passes through a deep valley making connections within Toronto, further south, kind of hard.

Unless we build some good elevators to get to the platform/ street (believe one of the subway stations in new jersey has express elevators to get to track level because it's so deep)

 

[ReThink]

Unfortunately the Richmond Hill GO line passes through a deep valley making connections within Toronto, further south, kind of hard.

Unless we build some good elevators to get to the platform/ street (believe one of the subway stations in new jersey has express elevators to get to track level because it's so deep)

My reply was more towards why adding additional stops on other lines in general shouldn't be an issue. As you mentioned, the Richmond Hill line isn't really a candidate for useful additional stops in the downtown area.

On the topic of the Yonge subway line extension, it is clearly a project this will be very worth while as it should have sufficient ridership and encourage a much denser urban form. However, as others have already covered here it should not occur before the Eastern Leg of the DRL is operational.

 

[gweed123]

Unfortunately the Richmond Hill GO line passes through a deep valley making connections within Toronto, further south, kind of hard.

Unless we build some good elevators to get to the platform/ street (believe one of the subway stations in new jersey has express elevators to get to track level because it's so deep)

One of the things I'm looking at doing in my TMP (a work in progress) is running the Richmond Hill line along the west side of Don Mills neighbourhood instead of the east, and then running it along the CP line for a bit, and then turning south just before Bayview. This will have it come in on the other set of tracks that run along the Don River under the Prince Edward Viaduct.

I did this because it would create a much more usable connection at Eglinton, in such a way that if the Don Mills station was entirely on the west side of Don Mills, and south of Eglinton, that the west end of the platform would almost be at the rail tracks. The end result would be a semi-decent transfer station between the two lines.

This transfer, coupled with the transfer between the Lakeshore route and Main St station, would probably divert enough downtown passengers off local transit to bring the DRL into grade-separated LRT range. Grade-separated south of Eglinton, and then down across Queen (the Richmond Hill line would serve the Union crowd), then back up Roncesvalles to Dundas West, then Georgetown corridor to Weston Rd and Eglinton.

The real advantage of having it within grade-separated LRT range south of Eglinton is that it can be in-median on both Jane and Don Mills north of Eglinton, forming a continuous wider U. The 'relief function' would be handled by the express GO routes, leaving the LRT DRL to serve more of a local function, while still providing some relief.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Well even if the Richmond Hill and Stouffville GO lines are upgraded to all-day service (a long way off despite ridership, unfortunately), I'd say it's still not a great solution for a lot of the people who currently use the TTC to go from the 905 to the downtown area.

Why, you ask?

Because if you go to U of T and need to get to College St, or if you want to get to Bloor or any other part of Toronto that isn't between the Lake and King Street, you'd have to take the TTC northbound to your destination anyway. This eliminates any cost benefits of avoiding a double-fare by taking the GO, and it makes people just use the TTC from the beginning instead of the GO.

One would think that a substantial (assuming) time savings will be more attractive to riders than a one fare ride is. In practice I think one seat/one fare rides are viewed as a more advantageous than time savings.

Hopefully with PRESTO TTC can share fares with GO so that riders can transfer between the two at minimal cost.