I patiently explain each time
That is exactly how I feel. There was a giant pent up anger about the transfer at Kennedy and the 3 or 4 year SRT shutdown. It’s hard to believe, but Ford was the only one smart enough to realize it. (I do not believe that Ford was smart enough to manufacture this anger). In the subsequent years, Council, the Provincial Liberals (and PCs) and now the top 2 Mayoralty candidates all realize that the transfer must be eliminated.
The Ford-McGuinty plan was generally well accepted, except that is was too expensive – showing that the transfer was a bigger issue than the SRT shutdown. The B-D subway extension was then proposed to (mainly) eliminate the transfer and also eliminate the SRT shutdown. Even the Liberal subway route was not summarily discounted, showing again that the SRT shutdown was not the major issue.
Stintz would not have gained her flip-flop reputation if she had proposed the B-D subway extension as an alternative to the Ford-McGuinty plan. Instead, mere months after reverting to the Transit City LRT route, she proposed the B-D subway extension – then LRT and then subway again.
It seems obvious that the Transit City LRT plan for the SRT is dead and will never be supported by the public. (It still may happen by stealth if someone is willing to take the political hit). Thus the alternative is a continuous connection of Scarborough to Yonge.
Would Stintz have been more popular if she went directly to the B-D subway extension – I do not think anyone can argue that the answer is yes.
In early 2012 when the City was crying out for a compromise between the Ford-McGuinty plan and the Transit City LRT plan, would the elevated option have gained traction? It is difficult to say. What can be said for sure (hindsight for some, foreseen for others) is that reverting to LRT was a poor decision that resulted in delays and cost over-runs because it was known to be unacceptable. It can also be said that the resulting solution to connecting Scarborough to Yonge is much more expensive than the elevated option would have been. It is also known that the TC SRT/LRT plan has immense opposition and the B-D subway extension also has some opposition. The elevated plan has no opposition since it was not presented. Compared to two plans that have proven to have major deficiencies, I would guess that the compromise of elevation may have been the best solution in the end. It may have also been viewed just as poorly, but I would rather vote for a maybe than a proven failed and a proven troubled plan.