I hope that there isn't an expectation that Toronto will be paying for this. This project doesn't benefit Toronto taxpayers, so I don't see why that municipality would be paying for it.
I agree that Toronto should pay for at most 1/3 of Cummer (probably around $70 mil). Anything more than that and I'd want this extension scrapped.
This whole line of thinking irked me too, so well done those who called TigerMaster on it. Maybe "York" needs it more than "Toronto," if I agree they are two totally different unrelated things. The idea that it is of little benefit to Toronto, however, is absurd. It may be a relatively short stretch of Yonge Street but there's still probably more redevelopment potential there than along the proposed Scarborough line. (Oh, and it's pretty rich that no one I ever heard raised concerns about THAT new subway causing capacity concerns, particularly at Bloor/Yonge. That's for two reasons: 1) It's in Toronto and doesn't go to some other municipality 2) It won't be as "beneficial" to the region (ie spur intensification) the way the Yonge line would, which is to say it won't generate enough new ridership to cause capacity concerns. That's how we measure good transit planning in the GTA, I guess.)
As Salsa said, the buses and better regional transit integration are obvious benefits, as is the new development, as is making it easier for TORONTO workers to get to their jobs, even if they've committed the crime of living 1 or 2 km beyond the city limits. (And, shockingly, some people go the other way too.)
As always, it's comic to read some people saying how little it will benefit Toronto and others saying it will be 2/3 full at Finch very quickly. Who are these people at Finch? Are they Toronto residents? Are they all York Region foreigners? What's the breakdown at Finch today? Are we checking passports? And if they're going south on trains at Finch in the morning, might one construe they are providing a benefit, economic or otherwise to Toronto?
Anyway, I frequently have to ride YRT to Finch Station and as it crosses Steeles, my bus leaves TORONTO residents standing at stops, waiting for TTC buses, because YRT isn't allowed to pick them up, even though there are plenty of seats.Is that beneficial to them? That's a metaphor for our entire transit network and that's not how a "world class" city-region operates. Opening your mind to realize that TORONTO isn't an abstract line within which people happen to pay taxes to a different place to people on the other side of the line is a good start; because that's about the only difference between them.
EDIT: TO RESPOND ALSO TOO...
I don't disagree but...no one is pushing this. Not even York Region. Or Markham or Vaughan. That's a problem if you support this. The province was supposed to kick in funding, where is it? I really think they are going to try to use the expanded GO as an excuse to forget this or only bring the subway to Steeles. This subway should have been built before the Vaughan Extension.
It would be very naive to think that because you aren't hearing about it, it's not going on. I assure you, the Mayor of Markham doesn't bump into Kathleen Wynne at a supermarket without mentioning the Yonge line. They are pushing it very hard with her and at Metrolinx (and, I presume, with the Vaughan MPP who happens to be Transpo Minister).
And I already said it twice but if they were going to use expanded GO as an excuse to delay this line, they would have provided more service to RH; they didn't. (They did provide MORE, but not all-day, 2-way, which would be required to make that argument, or something close to it.)
Indeed, the irony is that SmartTrack (and RER, generally) undermines Toronto's argument the DRL is needed before this subway can be built.