The first thing I would do to fix TTC is:
1. Order 500 additional buses, 350 new LRT’s and 20 additional new subway trains.
2. Next is to build 3 new carhouses and 3 bus garages to house the 500 additional buses and 700 LRT’s
3. Hire 3,000 drivers and mechanics.
4. Maximum headway would be 20 minutes regardless the day of the week or time of the day.
5. Headway is based on maximum of 50 riders at peak time and 36 for off peak time for buses. Prefer to see 10 minutes or less with 5 minutes or less as standards.
6. Headway is based on maximum of 70 for CLRV and 90 riders for ALVR’s at peak time and 30 for CLRV’s and 50 for ALRV’s for off peak time. 4 minutes maximum or riders which is every the lowest
7. Headway for the new LRT’s is 4 minutes maximum or 90 riders which is every the lowest.
8. Subway will operate every 2.00 minutes at peak time and 4 minutes off peak time until 1.30 am. From 1.30 am until start of service, headway will be every 10 minutes subject to work.
9. Find work windows on a monthly weekend base where part of the line is close to fix things as well upgrade the system in a shorter time frame than current plan. This will allow bi-direction signals work to allow trains to run on one track while the other track is out of service.
10. Build 20km or more each year for ROW. More than 1 ROW should be built at the same time to the point that 5 lines should be on going. Cost would be $300 million plus a year
11. Build 4km or more of subway per year for the next 40 years. More than one line can be built at the same time.
12. Change the current setup of management as well Commissioners so the public has a voice in planning and operation of the system.
13. Reduce cost ratio from 78% to 50% at the farebox by reducing monthly passes to $80, Weekly passes to $21, day passes to $5 and tickets/tokens to 10 for $15. Cash fare stays the same.
14. More express service to/from the core and else where without paying a premium fare.
15. 2 hour transfers.
17. Replace current streetcar fleet of 292 with 350 LRT's.
18. 20 large screens (70") built into each station wall so riders can see what is going on for the system like the current video screens with a 6/8 inch at the bottom for TTC. Since TTC will need about 1,300 screens, they can obtain a better price as a tender than what can be bought at a store.
Cost of ROW and operation under phase 2 by GTTA. Phase 1 by TTC except where it goes into the 905 where it will be 40-60% split as TTC has most to gain.
Building ranking for ROW.
a)        Dufferin St from Lake Shore to Teston Rd under phase 1. Phase 2 would be to Bradford. Ridership is just over 53,000. Will required rebuilding of the jog at Queen St, tunneling from Dupont to St Clair and a tunnel/bridge from Roger Rd to Eglinton Ave to deal with the grade and valleys. Most of Dufferin St is not wide enough for a ROW from Queen St to Eglinton without removing a lane of traffic. Cost is $50 million per KM for the whole route.
b)        Finch Ave from Steeles Ave in the west to Sewells Rd to the east under phase 1. Phase 2 to Bowmansville. Cost $15m/km.
c)        Don Mills from the Lake Shore to Teston Rd under phase 1. Phase 2 is to Mount Albert. Will cross the Don Valley by bridge, go underground under Coxwell and resurface at Gerard St. Continue south to meet the Lake Shore E line. Cost $25m/km.
d)        Jane St from BD to Teston Rd under phase 1 and to Hwy 9 under phase 2. Cost $15m/km.
e)        Steeles Ave from Hwy 50 in the west to Markham-Pickering Rd in the east as Phase 1. Phase 2 would follow Taunton Rd to Scugog-Manvers Townline in the east and and to Hurontario St in the west. Phase 3 would be to Milton. Cost $15m/km.
f)        Markham Rd from Kingston Rd to Eglin Mills Rd as Phase 1 and to Mount Albert under Phase 2. Cost $15m/km.
g)        Sheppard Ave from Weston Rd to Port Union GO station. Either mothball the Sheppard line with tracks on the surface or convert it to an LRT line until line can support a subway in the first place. Sections of the existing platforms will have to be close off and other sections lower to support the new LRT’s. Service will have to be MU or articulate with headway every 3 minutes. Fight over this. Cost $25m/km.
h)        Victoria Ave-Woodbine: from Main station to Elgin Mills under phase 1. Phase 2 is to go to Bradford. Cost $15m/km.
i)        Lawrence Ave from Port Union Go Station to the Airport as phase 1. Phase 2 will go from the airport north to Mayfield Rd and then to 89 under phase 3. Cost $20m/km to cover the cost of building a bridge over the Don Valley.
j)        Kennedy Rd from Kingston Rd to Eglin Mills Rd as phase 1 and to Mount Albert under phase 2. Cost $15m/km.
k)        Albion Rd-Wilson Ave-York Mills-Ellesmere Rd from Steeles Ave to Port Union GO station. Cost $15m/km.
l)        Keel St from the Lake Shore to Teston Rd as phase 1. Phase 2 is to Bradford. Cost is $25m/km to cover the cost of a tunnel from St Clair to Rogers Rd.
m)        Weston Rd from BD to Teston Rd as phase 1. Phase 2 is to Bradford. Cost $20m/km to cover the cost of a tunnel from Rogers Rd to Eglinton Ave.
n)        Islington Ave from the Lake Shore to Kleinberg as phase 1. Phase 2 is to hwy 89. Cost is $15m/km.
0) Dundas from Scarlett Rd to 403 as phase 1. Phase 2 to Bronte Rd, phase 3 to Aldershot and phase 4 to Stoney Creek. Cost $16m/km as a elevated bridge is require to go over Mississauga Rd. Part of this line will be as line 2 LRT in Mississauga and will be built before other lines as note above.
This is just a few ROW at this time and not all ROW will be for LRT. I have not taken the Kingston Rd. and the Fort York line inconsideration as they are in the work. Same goes for St Clair W extension since the EA starts in 2007. Same goes for the Queens Quay, Cherry St and the Western Waterfront as the EA’s are underway with Commissioner St, Unwin Ave, Lake Shore, south Cherry St, Leslie St and Broadview extension 10-20 years off at this time.
Existing Rail Lines:
All existing rail system to be upgraded to the maximum number of tracks an ROW can handle to cover two addition tracks for an LRT/DMU/EMU system. It will see more station along the lines in between the existing GO station to handle 10-15 service on a 24 hour base.
Fare will be the standard TTC fare within Toronto.
Subway program:
i.        BD from Kennedy to STC by the hydro ROW to Markham Rd and Sheppard Ave as phase 1. New station and alignment at Kennedy. Stations will be at Lawrence Ave, Ellesmere Ave, STC, Markham Rd-Progress Ave and Sheppard. Phase 2 will go north on Markham Rd to Eglin Mills Rd with station at Finch, Steeles, CNR, Hwy 7, CNR, 16th Ave and Elgin Mills.
ii.        BD from Kipling to Cloverdale under phase 1 with a new intercity and TTC terminal to replace TTC and MT current locations. New GO station to connect with new terminal as well a parking structure to house 3,000 cars. Phase 2 to Sq one by Dundas St, not the CPR line with station at Dixie Rd, Cawthra Rd that connects with GO Line, Hurontario St, Cooksville GO station, Elm-Central Parkway, Burnhamthorpe Rd and Sq One. There is to be a rough in station at mid point between Cloverdale and Dixie for future 100,000 plus redevelopment along Dundas. Provision be look at for a Y at Cloverdale where part of the line would go north to connect with the Eglinton line to get to the airport. This will see every other train going to either Sq One or the airport.
iii.        Queen St from Jane St BD station to Victoria BD station as phase 1. Stops will be at Roncesvalles, Lansdowne, Dufferin, Bathurst, Spadina, University, Yonge, Parliament, Broadview, Coxwell and Neville. Existing streetcars will service the areas in between the stations and not kill Queen Street off like what happen to the Danforth. Also, ridership will not support a station in the first place. People like to see what is happening above ground than look at bare walls. The Queen line will go north on Jane St to Steeles as phase 2 and to Teston Rd as phase 3. In the east the line will go north on Victoria/Woodbine to Elgin Rd as phase 2 and 3. We have the DRL and express service to the core.
iv.        Eglinton Ave from Guildwood GO station to the airport by Renforth as phase 1 Phase 2 to Pickering GO station and connect with the Sheppard Line.
v.        Sheppard between Yonge St and Downsview and connect to the Spadina line as a Y as phase 1. Will allow every other YUS train to service the Sheppard line and help to take the pressure off Yonge line. Phase 2 to Weston Rd to the west and to Morningside to the east and it bypass STC by staying on Sheppard. Phase 3 will see the line go west to the airport and to Pickering GO station to the east and connect with the Eglinton line. Phase 4 would see the line go west along Eglinton Ave to connect with the BD line at Sq One.
vi.        North V: This is still in the works, but as follows. Between Spadina and Parliament on King St. It goes north-west to Steeles and Hwy 50 connecting with the BD at Dufferin, Weston Rd at St Clair and Eglinton, Jane St at Tretheway, Sheppard line at Kipling north of Rexdale Blvd and Steeles at Hwy 50. In the east it goes north-east and connecting with the BD at Pape. It will connects with the Eglinton line and GO line, Victoria and Lawrence, Sheppard-GO Agincourt Station and the Markham-Steeles. This section will be the most costly as it is in the valley. There are other stations where they connect to other major TTC lines. Total of 29 stations.
vii.        South V: Steeles Ave 2, 000 feet on either side of Yonge St. South-east section connects with Sheppard line at Victoria, STC and Eglinton line at Kingston Rd. It also connect with the north-east V at Birchmount-Ellesmere. South-west connects with the Sheppard line at Dufferin, Eglinton-Weston Rd, BD at Royal York and Lake Shore-Brown Line. There are other stations where they connects to other major TTC lines. Total of 22 stations
viii.        Spadina Extension as plan under phase 1. This far down the list as the ridership is not there now or in 20 years. An LRT line could build that runs from Downsview to King City for $878 million compare to $2 billion only to hwy 7. The bridge over the 407 would be built for the future subway.
ix. Yonge line from Finch to Elgin Mills Rd. This extension is far down the list to allow other N-S lines to be in place to take the pressure off the Yonge line first before adding more riders as we know this will increase once built. At some point a 2nd Yonge line will have to be build under and beside the current line and it will be more of an express line.
x. Yonge-Bay St line from Elgin Mills to Queens Quay. Will go south on Bay St starting at Dupont. Will go under YUS at Union station and will have to be heavily waterproof and will be costly.
xi.        Steeles Line from Hwy 50 to Markham-Pickering line running under Steeles, not the Hydro corridor as the hydro line would be to far from Steeles as well causing extra transferring. Route will follow the plan LRT line as phase 1. Phase 2 will continue west and connect with GO Mount Pleasant Station.
xii.        Teston-Elgin line will run from Islington Ave to Markham Rd.
Grand total of about 400km of new lines or 90 years of continues building subway at 4km per year. It would take 40 years doing 10Km as well $2.5 billion a year to build this system.
905 will have to pickup their share of the cost.
As for the V, it goes with the saying that the shortest route is how the crow flies. The lines maybe long, but traveling time is cut by 40%.
Cost of any LRT, ROW and subway going into the 905 will be bore by the 905 along with operation cost on a 40-60 base since TTC will have the most to gain. It will be the same funding arrangements as for the current Spadina extension. Exception will be the Teston-Elgin which will be 100% by the GTTA.
400 series highways: The 400 series can be either a LRT/EMU/DMU/monorail/maglev depending on distance, load factor or what part of the highway can be use. Since no lanes of traffic can be taken away, this rules out most grade level service and leaves us with elevate system. Because of the grade on the 401, the elevated sections will be at least 18m above grade. Stops are far in between in most case and only connect with major TTC and GO routes only. Stations will be built over the connecting route using centre platform with stairs and elevators on both side of the connecting road.
401: Milton to Pickering GO Station. Stops at Martin Rd, James Snow, Trafalgar Rd, 407, 10th line, Winston Churchill, Mississauga Rd, Orangeville Rail Line, Mavis Rd, Hurontario St, 410, Dixie Rd, 427, Islington/GO Line, Weston Rd, 400, Jane St, Keel St, Dufferin/Spadina Line, Yonge St, Leslie St/GO line, Don Mills, 404, Victoria, Warden, McGowan, Markham Rd, Meadowvale and Pickering GO Station.
400: Union Station, Eglinton/Weston Sub, Lawrence, 401, Sheppard, Finch, Steeles, 407/Halton Sub, Hwy 7, Rutherford, Major Mac, Teston, King-Vaughan Rd, King Rd, Hwy 9, Hwy 89, Hwy 88, Barrie.
404/Don Valley: Union, Don Mills, Eglinton, Lawrence, York Mills, 401, Sheppard, Finch, Steeles, Hwy 7, CNR, Hwy 7, 16th Ave, Major Mac, Elgin Rd, Bloomington Rd, Aurora Rd and Hwy 9.
427: Union, Park lawn, Islington, Kipling, Qew/427, Dundas, Eglinton, 401, Dixon Rd, Finch, Derry Rd, Steeles, CNR, 407 and Hwy 7. Extension could start from Lake Shore and Brownline.
403/410: Mayfield, Bovaird, Queen St, CNR, 407, Steeles, 401, Derry Rd, 401, Eglinton, Eastgates, Hurontario, Milton CPR, Mississauga Rd, Erin Mills, Winston Churchill, 407, Burnhamthorpe, Dundas, Upper Middle Rd.
407: Hamilton, Aldershot, 403/QEW, Dundas, Walker Lines, Appleby, Bronte, Trafaler, 403/407, Eglinton. Derry, 401, Mississauga Rd, Mavis, Hurontario, Dixie, Airport Rd, The Gore Rd, 427, Islington/CPR, Weston Rd, 400, Jane St, Keel St, Dufferin, Yonge/CNR, Don Mills, 404, Don Mills, Woodbine, Warden, Stouffville/CNR, McGowan, Markham Rd, CNR, Brock Rd and Pickering GO station.
--remembering, f'rinstance, the concern in Weston and elsewhere over the Blue 22 plans. From the evidence offered so far, there's not a lot of sensitivity there.
