scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
Even the Sheppard subway, if connected to STC, would probably move less than 100,000 people per day.
The Sheppard subway cost around 900Million to build, and costs 10 Million a year to operate, and the TTC still provides parallel bus service. I am more than certain, LRT from Downsview to Meadowvale would have attracted far more rides than the subway.
I am not anti-subway, far from it.
Another myth pro-subway advocates like to bring up: Speed attracts riders. What is the point of a super quick subway ride, if you have to wait for an infrequent bus to reach your destination, if you live between stations?
The Phoenix LRT has been a major revenue booster for business, for that exact reason. Hop on-Hop off. It is also possible with subways, but usually at stations only, unless the station spacing is small enough, that people can walk between stations.
Oh dear, another person moaning about total ridership. Of course, if it hit 10,000 per hour, it'd cross the magic threshold on the little chart the city trots out to discredit sensible subway projects (no such minimum is ever considered for multi-billion dollar light rail projects, though). Let me guess: any line that moves less than its theoretical capacity is a TOTAL FAILURE, right?
How much money does our precious Queen streetcar cost to operate? How much money do the Steeles buses lose every day? The *only* reason the central stretches of subway profit operationally (if they even do so) is because other routes 'lose' money feeding riders onto them.
As for the 85J, it wouldn't be needed if the subway was extended and if Willowdale was built.
Now you're going on about a 25km LRT line from Downsview to Meadowvale versus a 5km subway line. I am more than certain that this is a stupid comparison. Adding "I am not anti-subway" just makes your statements seem even more clownish.
It's not a myth: travel time is far and away the main issue people have with transit and what keeps people in their cars, and travel time is a function of more than just vehicle speed.
That stop spacing argument might not make no sense if you used a city/LRT system that didn't have the same stop spacing as Toronto's subway network, which is about 1km, except for a small number of 2km gaps, most of which cross completely empty pockets. Your entire stop spacing diatribe is based on the lack of a Willowdale station and maybe a Lytton/Blythwood station. That's about it. Filling in the other handful of 2km gaps would just create more Ellesmeres.