Downtown Rapid Transit Expansion Study

[MisterF]

I'm not opposed to such funds. But given how much of it went to infrastructure (our similar funding simply goes to the provincial government), I don't think discussing the "Madrid Miracle" is fair ... imagine how much better we'd be if we diverted the $billions from the F-18s, F-35s, and all these new warships to transit systems in our bigger cities.

Well surely then it would be fair to compare Toronto to the bigger German and French cities, which managed to build themselves pretty decent mass transit systems of their own while paying into other countries as well.

In any case I think the impact the EU has had on the Madrid metro is overblown. Most of Spain is a recipient of EU funds, but Madrid and western Spain are contributors. EU or no EU, Toronto is playing catchup.

 

[Paleo]

The DRL maps I saw in the past showed a stop at Spadina and then nothing till Dufferin (Exhibition) before turning north to I think it was Parkdale and then Roncesvalles and then hit the Bloor line. So it does not matter if perhaps there was nothing west of Spadina. The whole point of the DRL is to alleviate traffic along Bloor and Yonge and to get people transferring at other points along Bloor/Danforth to head downtown. In the 90's did anyone think there would be so many people living downtown not living in a single detached or semi. Was it even possible? So to say there will never be anything west of Spadina....Besides there is Ontario Place and the Liberty Village and then the DRL is suppose to head north/west anyways.

I meant Front west of Spadina. Front, west of John is already pretty dead after work hours unless there's an event happening at the Dome, contrast that with King or Queen. Having the rail yard on the south side of Front will limit things. Even then I think people tend to overestimate how many people a condo brings in. A couple hundred per building? They can walk north.

Keeping it north will allow DRT to simultaneously replace the King streetcar in its entirety and support the continued development of the already existing strip. My fear is that any plan that is developed will be heavily biased towards express stop spacing. I hope it's not... electrified GO can handle that.

Well surely then it would be fair to compare Toronto to the bigger German and French cities, which managed to build themselves pretty decent mass transit systems of their own while paying into other countries as well.

In any case I think the impact the EU has had on the Madrid metro is overblown. Most of Spain is a recipient of EU funds, but Madrid and western Spain are contributors. EU or no EU, Toronto is playing catchup.

How much debt do those German and French cities have? Does Madrid get back more of the money they pay out than Toronto does?

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

If Sarah Thompson was mayor, we would be on this by now.

 

[Palma]

But you do know that there will be people against removing the King streetcar. I would not be too happy about that myself. I too hope it is not express stopping. I don't understand why on the east side the DRL is shown going straight north and hits Bloor. Why can they not d the same thing on the west side - straight north up Dufferin till it hits Bloor.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

But you do know that there will be people against removing the King streetcar. I would not be too happy about that myself. I too hope it is not express stopping. I don't understand why on the east side the DRL is shown going straight north and hits Bloor. Why can they not d the same thing on the west side - straight north up Dufferin till it hits Bloor.

Oh I agree. But I guess they wanted to cover all of downtown west.

 

[Palma]

It seems like the west always gets screwed. First the Spadina line - crisscrossing what was to be an expressway instead of aligning straight like the Yonge Line and then continuing the madness of crisscrossing it up to Vaughan.

 

[Dan416]

I supported her. Of course I couldn't vote because I don't have an M-postal code.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

I supported her. Of course I couldn't vote because I don't have an M-postal code.

Me too. Have an L one.

 

[sixrings]

i supported her with a M posta code she was the only honest candidate when it came to transit. Well joe pants to but he did a terrible job of representing who he was other then a transit city supporter.

 

[car4041]

Keeping it north will allow DRT to simultaneously replace the King streetcar in its entirety and support the continued development of the already existing strip. My fear is that any plan that is developed will be heavily biased towards express stop spacing. I hope it's not... electrified GO can handle that.

Any subway that adequately replaces the King (or Queen) car would need to have close stop spacing, which in turn would make it a pretty poor DRL (which is intended to divert longer-distance trips away from Bloor-Yonge). I agree that the ideal way to serve the long-distance "relief" function of the DRL would be to build GO into an S-Bahn type of system, but GO is apparently not interested in that (at least not within the 416). So we seem to be stuck with the idea of a DRL subway that sorta-but-not-really replaces a streetcar line and sorta-but-not-really provides a faster trip downtown than Bloor + Yonge.

But who knows what the TTC's DRT study will conclude.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

i supported her with a M posta code she was the only honest candidate when it came to transit. Well joe pants to but he did a terrible job of representing who he was other then a transit city supporter.

I agree. Joe Pants was was a terrible canididate.

 

[Tulse]

Any subway that adequately replaces the King (or Queen) car would need to have close stop spacing

I'm not sure that it would need to have excessively close spacing -- having reliable and fast service would more than make up for having to walk a bit to a station. Spacing like that on the eastern part of the Danforth line would work very well.

And I don't think that a DRL needs to be express to provide relief to YUS -- the problem with the current line isn't speed, but crowding. A line that was just as fast but less crowded would be a huge hit.

 

[kkgg7]

If Sarah Thompson was mayor, we would be on this by now.

makes a lot more sense than the stupid Finch or Sheppard line extension.
would be nicer if the DRL can extend to Eglington. I was surprised how crowded the Eglington bus gets, even during the weekend. Everyone seems to be heading to Yonge St.

 

[kkgg7]

Any subway that adequately replaces the King (or Queen) car would need to have close stop spacing, which in turn would make it a pretty poor DRL (which is intended to divert longer-distance trips away from Bloor-Yonge). I agree that the ideal way to serve the long-distance "relief" function of the DRL would be to build GO into an S-Bahn type of system, but GO is apparently not interested in that (at least not within the 416). So we seem to be stuck with the idea of a DRL subway that sorta-but-not-really replaces a streetcar line and sorta-but-not-really provides a faster trip downtown than Bloor + Yonge.

But who knows what the TTC's DRT study will conclude.

the problem with the current streetcar stops is there are too frequent. A stop at Church St, Bond st, Victoria St, Yonge St, Bay st on 505. From Church st to Bay st is only 500 meters, or 5 minutes walk, and we have 4 stops in between. really excessively too many. I think the distance between stations should at least 300 meters to worth the stop.

Sometimes you can see a streetcar coming really close, but never arriving, just because there are like 6 stops in between, and people get on and off at each of them.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

makes a lot more sense than the stupid Finch or Sheppard line extension.
would be nicer if the DRL can extend to Eglington. I was surprised how crowded the Eglington bus gets, even during the weekend. Everyone seems to be heading to Yonge St.

Eglinton west is a mess from 4 to 7. Imagine you go on yus to eglinton west allen then home to royal york!.