A few things I noticed while reading through the full report. I would summarize that the DRL does little for the capacity on the Yonge line and the biggest benefit to Yonge is from improved station capacity at Yonge-Bloor. This is not what I expected.
Capacity
I see they mention that the capacity of the YUS will be increased from 26k to 38k (46%) with a potential 10% also available but not counted (Section 1.2.4.2). This is made up of 3 parts:
1. 10% of the increase is from new trains
2. 36% from running trains closer together, because of;
-a. Automatic Train Control (ATC) being used.
-b. Station capacity and passenger flow limitations, particularly at Bloor-Yonge .Station will be resolved through station expansion (see 3rd paragraph on page 17).
3. 10% from lengthening the trains (has not been included in this study).
Thus, to achieve the capacities in the report, we still need to spend $1B (taken from OneCity) for improvements to the Yonge-Bloor station.
Yonge-Bloor Station
1. Currently, the transfer on/off Yonge southbound are 14,940 (730+2550+970+4330+6360 from exhibit 1-11). There are 10,700 boardings (4330+6360). (Note that there is no mention of any walk-on traffic, only walk-off)
2. Without the DRL, the transfer on/off Yonge southbound are 20,600 – a 38% increase from today. (2220+3950+950+4210+9270 from exhibit 1-11). There are 13,480 (4210+9270) boardings – a 26% increase from today.
3. With DRL option 3, the transfer on/off Yonge southbound are 18,380 – a 23% increase from today. (2620+4420+1030+2780+5270 from exhibit 4-12). There are 8,050 (2780+5270) boardings – a 25% decrease from today.
I am not sure what is a more useful statistic above, is it the total traffic on the Southbound platform (as I have calculated) or the number of boardings (as was presented in the report). I think the former is a better measure of dwell time. If the former, then platform usage will increase by 25%. If the latter, train alightings will decrease by 26% for Southbound Yonge.
It seems that platform useage will increase by 25% and any benefits to capacity from ATC would be offset by increased dwell time at the station. Either the station must be improved, or the DRL must take even more transferring passengers away from Yonge-Bloor.
Yonge Line
1. Currently, the volume on Yonge south of Bloor is 28,400 (table 1-6).
2. Without the DRL, the volume would be 35,800 (table 1-7).
3. With DRL option 3, the Volumes will be 33,100 (table 4-7) – a 20% increase from today, or a decrease of only 8% from the projected base case. (Note that even though the DRL diverted several thousand riders from Yonge-Bloor, there must have been extra passengers added).
4. With DRL option 3 and Yonge extension to RH, the Volumes will be an extra 3,600 (39,400 – 35,800 from tables 1-8 and 1-7) or 36,700 – a 29% increase from today.
Lets say the capacity of the Yonge line can be increased to 29,000 (10%) with new cars and to 31,500 with new cars and longer trains. Thus, the Yonge line would still be over capacity even with the DRL. Either;
a. the station must be improved to improve dwell times,
b. the DRL must take even more transferring passengers away from Yonge-Bloor, or
c. the DRL must take passengers off the northern parts of the Yonge line.
The cost of a) is $1B,
The cost of b), achieved by running the Eglinton Crosstown continuous with the SRT and at high frequency (i.e. grade-separation), is maybe $0.5B if elevated or $2B+ if underground), and
The cost of c), achieved by extending the DRL farther north beyond Eglinton, is up to 2.5B, depending on how far, what technology, an whether it is at-grade, elevated or underground.