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A capacity upgrade is certainly a good reason to build transit. However, I agree that for local needs. I’m not sure an LRT makes sense where a BRT or just faster and frequent service would do just as well. Often in Toronton it feels like we build rail lines to make a point or subsidize development or land owners. It offen doesn’t serve a need for the region.
LRTS don’t weave in and out of traffic making the ride smoother. People prefer rail travel than busses. The LRTs would be significantly larger meaning transit riders wouldn’t be stuffed in like sardines. Yes ROW LRTs encourage development as seen on eglinton, hurontario, Kitchener, finch. More development means more transit riders. I would think that’s a plus for transit, for property values and for the cities tax revenues.
Transit for the sake of development typically means vanity project. Just ask York Region and the VIVA BRT, a massive overbuilt BRT where aside from Viva Blue (Yonge Street), all run at horrible frequencies and isn't used by anyone. It was built to spur development, and that's all it's doing, with no evidence that that development is contributing much in terms of ridership. Viva also proves that no you don't need the project to be rail in order to spur development, all you need is some semblance of permanent infrastructure that would be difficult to get rid of. So no, this isn't even something that LRT has the exclusive rights on.
You seem to be ignoring the fact that Eglinton and Morningside have bus lanes which according to THE CITY THAT IS TRYING TO PUSH THE LRT TO BE BUILT, is faster than what the LRT will be. Eglinton's busses already bypass most of the traffic during rush hour, and this is something that can be replicated on most streets in the city. LRTs aren't special in that regard.
Transit must serve the nice to have requirements as well. If you offer it as a bare bones service you will alienate a whole bunch of users. You want the people who can afford a car, chose to use transit because they think it’s a dignified and worthy alternative. Speed is not the only factor. And again even if that’s the standard the lrt in a row is better than a bus in traffic.
In terms of network connectivity Sheppard west is definitely a more important project, though I definitely disagree that finch is more important. Eglinton East connects 2 GO stations, a university, and a couple of busy local nodes vs 1 future go station and a college that is already going to be connected in some way. Not to say finch isn't important but a hell of a lot more people will find Eglinton east useful. I'm not sold that LRT is the best mode for Eglinton east, I think a full-on BRT with articulated busses could work better in some ways (could retain current bus routes radiating off the trunk). The LRT would definitely be a massive improvement for comfort, which is currently not great but not horrible, but also remember higher capacity LRT is cheaper to operate than busses just by nature of having fewer vehicles and fewer drivers. On the speed issue, i think the city has some real issues in the way it plans transit projects. It seems they just timed how long they think their planned route would take and excepted the final number, instead of actively trying to find ways that they could speed up the service. Cutting stops, strategic grade separations, trains with lots of doors, and transit priority from day one should all be looked at (or just included no matter what for transit priority) to see if they can speed up the operation. Really in the end though i don't think speed is a big issue here. I think the main benefit of this project is connecting line 2 and UTSC to lakeshore east with a high capacity connection for when GO inevitably has subway-like service and is fare integrated with the subway. This doesn't really require high speeds as most trips will be relatively short distances between the interchanges.
Correction: LRTs are significantly larger, meaning transit riders are still stuffed in like sardines and service is less frequent.
Do we know what frequency is planned for Eglinton, on opening day, if such a day comes?
Frequencies can always be changed for either a bus or a lrt But a bus will always be physically smaller than a lrt.
For a given capacity, you have to run a bus ~3x more frequently. Transit agencies are not in the business of running mostly empty vehicles.
Also I think it is important to note that Eglinton would truly becoming a crosstown network all the way from Sauga to close to Pickering. Assuming it is one network and not split in half at Kennedy station. which looks like to be the case day by day
But that's contingent on the capacity needed being equivalent to all of those added up together. Part of the point I was making earlier is that most of the traffic will probably be going to the GO stations, rather than all funneled together. As such, you shouldn't be looking at each of those routes together, but separately.
Or just fund the whole Sheppard Subway, Sheppard West to McCowan.
