Transit City Update

Actually, there's not much to update. The TTC (or is the City who can tell?) still have their Transit City website up and running - but it doesn't look like there's much action.

I you go on the website, the first picture you'll see is one of a streetcar. I think this goes under the category of "severe marketing faux-pas". There are people who are trying to convice us that the plan is more than simply streetcars - but more and more it seems that's all there is.

When I pressed the link to see the latest news, the first story in the Google news search was about the groundbreaking for New York City's project to join the Long Island RR with Grand Central Station. Now New York is a transit city.

OK - let's look at some of the possible lines:

Eglinton

If built to completion, this will be a very long line - 31 km at a price tag of $2.2 billion. A good chunk of this would be underground - and there is a good stretch of corridor available on Eglinton West to run a route at the side of the street.

It would be interesting to know what the proposed train/station length is for this line. The trouble is that the underground stations could end up being too short. If the line is really rapid, the is plenty of pent up demand that could quickly overwhelm underbuilt stations.

Conversely, it's difficult to run 4 or 5 car trains in the middle of streets due to station requirements. It's totally impractical to keep breaking up and bulding trainsets.

Nat's prognosis -

This is the best of the bunch (and the Transit City website poll agrees by a wide margin.)

It would be better to build this as a metro line. Montreal's new Metro extension to Laval (which had to tunnel under the Riviere Des Prairies) cost about $175 million per KM - so the $2.2 billion could build a Metro type line from about Eglinton and Laird to Eglinton and Jane (11.3 km per Google Maps) with $200 change to spare for equipment.


Don Mills

OK the Don Mills bus is pretty busy - but the street is hardly overwhelmed by buses. I've been going to a client at Leslie and Hwy 7 - and avoiding the DVP on some days. On Don Mills, the reserved lane for buses is pretty well adhered - i.e. cars stay out unless turning.

In some sections, there is room for an LRT - others are too narrow. I have no idea what is planned for the connection to the Bloor Danforth line.

There's a marginal case that this line would serve dense employment - although a good deal of the office space along the corridor is off by a jog along Wynford Drive. Most people would need to transfer to a bus from Don Mills. There are some offices on Don Mills directly- and some manufacturing.

Nat's prognosis -

There's plenty of room to expand surface capacity on Don Mills without sinking $700 on a streetcar line. This line would likeky to closer to true LRT than some of the others - but I can't see stop spacing being elongated more than removing every other stop.

Even at that, the extra walk to the stop would be a gig negative for existing passengers (oh yeah them - don't rain on the LRT parade by talking about them!)

The big problem with the line is that is terminates at Bloor Danforth instead of proceding downtown. B-D is already very busy by the time it comes in from the East at Coxwell or so.

Not sure what to make of this one. The best thing for riders would be a Viva type service to enhance the existing bus service that would run in and out of the Eglinton & Laird terminus of the Eglinton Metro. Eglnton East from Laird is pretty well 6-lanes - so there room to hard reserve a lane at key intersections.