The original plan was to take the line to Victoria Park, but Mike Harris said you only have $1 billion to build this line. That money only got the line as far as it is today with a few million left over.
I have videos going in both directions from Don Mills to Meadowvalle and it shows there is nothing there now or 20 years to support a subway.
Tridel is going to build their first tower mid way to Victoria Park with a few more to follow. That about 5-10 year time frame. You have 8 Chichester Place being built east of Victoria. You have no less than 5 fail attends of building tall buildings up to Kennedy Rd.
There is talk of a small building at Kennedy now.
You have a couple of new towers going up at Yorkland, next to the 404.
Other than that, there is nothing in the pipeline for development along Sheppard east of Tridel development now or in 5-10 years.
Given the fact that it will take about 5/7 years for a development to be completed depending on the size, height as well selling once plans come forth for approval, no way a subway can be supported by the current ridership for the next 20+ years if at all.
I still ask the question why is STC so important to build a subway to when the current express buses run 50% empty or more outside of peak time compare to the ridership on the 85's? If more riders are using 85's east of Kennedy than to STC, would you think it is wise to build a line where the ridership is in the first place?
I prefer to see the DRL built from Don Mills Station as it would take about 20-30% of the ridership off the Yonge line in the first place, as well get people to the core faster if they are going there in the first place.
I don't see any P3 company coming forth willing to build this thing unless they can get a good buck in return for doing it. Unless there is guarantee in the contract that the City of Toronto pickups all excess overhead due to poor ridership, the Sheppard riders will be paying 2-4 times the going rate of TTC fare to ride this line.
I know and am very sure, most riders system wide would not be willing to pay this extra cost so a few people can ride this subway while having 3rd class service. Most would look at other ways to get where they want to go in the first place cheap. More riders you loose, higher your lost ratio is.
If TTC is loosing $5-10 million yearly on the existing line, I expect to see it being triple for the whole line going to STC.
If you ask the riders system wide if they are willing to pay a higher fare to cover this lost so a few rider can save 5 minutes, their answer would be ""NO""
I expect to see the government in 2012 telling Ford where to go and to fast track the Sheppard LRT by cutting back on the underground section for the Eglinton Line, since there is no approve EA for that underground section at this time. Once the cost start rolling in for that EA, you can kiss any left over money going to the Sheppard Subway Line goodbye if the line stays underground as per Ford plan.
Time to deal with economic 101. You cannot spend what you don't have in the first place and to do so you are putting yourself at risk of loosing everything. This expectation what people be earning when they leave school or by the age of 30 is off the wall.
If you cannot afford something now, you need to save for it or come up with a plan where the cost can be spread over X years without doing harm for those rainy days unknown expenses that will show up from time to time.
As I have said in the past Drive, ride transit, bike and walk Sheppard from end to end and you will get a real feel for what is there and what can be there over time.
Most development on Sheppard to support a subway will not happen in your lifetime.