[TJ O'Pootertoot]

What benefit is there to the 407 transitway at this point? Any time savings from not having to get on and off the highway to service stops will be negated from having more stops and slower speeds on the transitway.

I'm not sure I get the question? The 407 Transitway (as opposed to the Highway 7 BRT) is an express route with relatively few stops. The previous design did indeed entail it having to leave the highway by a fair bit to access the station, something the Bridge design entirely eliminates. You can see here, how the green route diverges to the north at Red Maple in the current design but with Bridge Station, it would stay straight as an arrow. Big time savings.

This is very crude but I did orange lines to show how the routes are affected by the changes, with handsome stars for the subway stations. Getting rid of that hump (which no one ever liked) under "Plate 19" is a good thing.

The central segment goes from the 400 to Kennedy and it's been pushed to the post-2041 Metrolinx timeline and it's a bit hard to imagine it getting moved up a decade. But I guess anything's possible these days. (On the one hand, I'd say it's fallen off the Province's radar but on the other hand, they've kept moving forward with the EA's...)

 

[Bureaucromancer]

Any time savings from not having to get on and off the highway to service stops will be negated from having more stops and slower speeds on the transitway.

A claim which could only be made by someone with no familiarity with the real-world service whatsoever.

 

[tsm1072]

The central segment goes from the 400 to Kennedy and it's been pushed to the post-2041 Metrolinx timeline and it's a bit hard to imagine it getting moved up a decade. But I guess anything's possible these days. (On the one hand, I'd say it's fallen off the Province's radar but on the other hand, they've kept moving forward with the EA's...)

It likely won't start construction until post-2041. But I hope they properly rough-in the station at Bridge, the central section will connect 4 rapid transit lines, and 3 major growth areas. Even if you just build the connector stations and plan to add the infill stations after, I think it will be worth starting construction as the line 1 extension opens. But, the transitway only becomes beneficial if fare integration is implemented.

 

[Coolstar]

I'm not sure I get the question? The 407 Transitway (as opposed to the Highway 7 BRT) is an express route with relatively few stops. The previous design did indeed entail it having to leave the highway by a fair bit to access the station, something the Bridge design entirely eliminates. You can see here, how the green route diverges to the north at Red Maple in the current design but with Bridge Station, it would stay straight as an arrow. Big time savings.

Not to mention the Transitway is to act as a circumferential-like line for the GTA. With the Transitway, you can get from suburb to suburb without entering the city. Like Line 15 in Paris.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

It likely won't start construction until post-2041. But I hope they properly rough-in the station at Bridge, the central section will connect 4 rapid transit lines, and 3 major growth areas. Even if you just build the connector stations and plan to add the infill stations after, I think it will be worth starting construction as the line 1 extension opens. But, the transitway only becomes beneficial if fare integration is implemented.

At the very least, it would improve ridership at the Spadina line 407 station... Yeah, the central section seems like it should go in sooner rather than later, but there are mixed messages about how much of a priority all this is.

And also yes, with a second subway line crossing the municipal border and "SmartTrack" coming online, it really feels like it's time for someone to put their foot down and make fare integration a thing. In case it wasn't clear from the past 30+ years of ridership patterns, it feels like COVID has really shown just how irrelevant these lines on maps are when it comes to how people move around the region. We'll see if it's enough to actually break through some governance logjams.

 

[M II A II R II K]

If only they could come up with better names for the stations than those, especially being such significant stations.

 

[Coolstar]

If only they could come up with better names for the stations than those, especially being such significant stations.

At least it makes sense. Bridge station is located under a bridge and High Tech is located under the High Tech St.

 

[M II A II R II K]

Give the bridge a name then.

 

[aquateam]

Give the bridge a name then.

Bridge Station Bridge.

 

[Fritter]

Give the bridge a name then.

Lollobrigida.

 

[M II A II R II K]

It may also get meaningless names when the extension reaches Newmarket Bus Terminal.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

Everyone must be forgetting how they were changing names on the Spadina Extension until the last possible minute.
I would be pretty surprised if "Bridge" and "High Tech" didn't become "Langstaff [Gateway]" and "Richmond Hill Centre."
We may also see developer branding for Langstaff (I dunno what but I've hypothesized it will be "Thornhill Gateway/Heights/Something Else]") that may supersede Langstaff Gateway as the name for the area.
I'd be shocked if either of of those end up being the final names, really.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

We're already talking about names?

Next up: A discussion on washroom locations

 

[W. K. Lis]

We're already talking about names?

Next up: A discussion on washroom locations

Likely the cheapest "memorial" washroom possible, to please the non-transit using penny-pinching decision makers. Like this one at Cedarvale Station...

From link.

 

[Bureaucromancer]

Even if you just build the connector stations and plan to add the infill stations after, I think it will be worth starting construction as the line 1 extension opens.

The version that makes sense to me (and has been brought up in EAs, though not particularly planned for) would be to build the 407 Station, Yonge and Unionville stations with just dedicated ramps to and from the highway until traffic requires the actual transitway for congestion relief. Unionville in particular would be a huge improvement for both 407 and Viva service quality.