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Metrolinx: Sheppard East LRT (In Design)

It will never make sense to extend Sheppard east of McCowan. Ellesmere, sure. Sheppard should eventually replace the western portion of the Durham BRT.
30 years before the rt was built there was quite literally nothing but farms at Scarborough centre. a lot can change. I agree there isn't a need for it now, but such a need may arise.
 
Durham was originally planned for mass development in the 70s yet York Region took its place. Transportation infrastructure is just not in place to connect TO with Durham and still isn't. It's better they built the BRT now instead of later.
 
Or better yet, if riderHmm, what if the Ellesmere BRT were to use the old SRT corridor and ROW from Markham all the way to Kennedy, serving Centennial College, Scarborough Centre, Lawrence East (existing), and Kennedy.
Why duplicate the Stouffville Line corridor? A major issue with the RT is that the section between Kennedy and Ellesmere is quite useless as a corridor, the only section that has any real value is the east west section between Midland and McCowan. Having the BRT just continue west along Ellesmere and maybe reach Yonge Street is way smarter.
 
Why duplicate the Stouffville Line corridor? A major issue with the RT is that the section between Kennedy and Ellesmere is quite useless as a corridor, the only section that has any real value is the east west section between Midland and McCowan. Having the BRT just continue west along Ellesmere and maybe reach Yonge Street is way smarter.
Because by then there'll be no stations between Agincourt and Kennedy - so no real duplication. Alternatively add GO stations and terminate at Ellesmere. Though if you add GO stations, terminating at Scarborough Centre is less of an issue ... just thinking of if TTC does as the commissioners have asked to be studied, put a BRT from Kennedy to Scarborough Centre in 2023 - might as well keep using it.
 
Because by then there'll be no stations between Agincourt and Kennedy - so no real duplication. Alternatively add GO stations and terminate at Ellesmere. Though if you add GO stations, terminating at Scarborough Centre is less of an issue ... just thinking of if TTC does as the commissioners have asked to be studied, put a BRT from Kennedy to Scarborough Centre in 2023 - might as well keep using it.
We could add GO stations whenever we want. The fact that these corridors are being electrified means that if we need the corridor, we could build the stations. The issue is that the corridor is mostly worthless. The only benefit to building stations on that corridor is to connect to local bus services, the area is an industrial park so there aren't any residences to serve. The only reason why the Lawrence East GO was even entertained was because the plan for SSE at the time was a 1 stop extension to STC so the GO station was meant to connect to the Lawrence bus, but now that we have a 3 stop extension, the value of the GO station is even smaller. Building a bus corridor here won't do anything. Sure it might be nice as a hold over until SSE is finished, but once its finished, the busway will become pointless. The reason why I brought up the RT corridor is because the east west section north of Ellesmere actually has some value even after SSE opens, and can easily be reused for an east west corridor that extends in both directions along Ellesmere, either Light Metro, LRT, or even BRT.
 
There's walk-in traffic at Lawrence East station.

If they go ahead and build the BRT, as TTC is looking at, from Kennedy to Scarborough Centre in 2023 to 2030 - why not keep the buses arriving at Scarborough Centre on that BRT to serve intermediate stops?
 
The Sheppard Subway should go to Rouge Hill to provide the only uptown commuter rail option.
If only there was a GO Train in Rouge Hill! Then they can bypass most of Scarborough more quickly.

GO_RougeHill_May2020_EN%20and%20FR.jpg

From link.
 
The local density is mostly irrelevant, which is why stations like Warden and York Mills get more pax than stations like Osgoode or Wellesley
I don't mean the density at the station locations but more just the entire area. Those stations are the closest stations for a lot of people or have lots of busy bus routes feeding into them while northeast Scarborough doesn't have the density to support that quite yet
 
I don't mean the density at the station locations but more just the entire area. Those stations are the closest stations for a lot of people or have lots of busy bus routes feeding into them while northeast Scarborough doesn't have the density to support that quite yet
Sheppard to at least McCowan isn't all that far Northeast
 
It also makes future extensions east a lot easier, having the line terminate at STC for the most part limits where extensions can go (unless you have it follow where the Durham BRT will go).
East of McCowan in the near-future, we will likely see Ellesmere become the busiest surface transit corridor (if it isn't already, and not Sheppard) due to the destinations along it in Scarborough - STC, the hospital, and UTSC + the existing Ellesmere BRT grows ridership. I'd say ending the line at STC makes future extensions more lucrative (easier to construct? I don't know). Sheppard east of McCowan - runs through a more desolate area with no major destinations, sandwiched by freight rails and industrial lands to the north and a highway to the south, and leads rouge valley area. Of course I have to actually see data on ridership patterns on these specific segments of the 85 bus, seeing where it drops off (and other intersecting bus lines) to really get a good picture in my mind.

Line 4 is a line with a lot of capacity, and it should be directed where it can be best utilized, even if it means straying off the grid - I mean, that is something we already do with our subway lines when we need to (see: Line 2 going up to STC instead of continuing along the Eglinton corridor, or University-Spadina side of Line 1 snaking it's way northwest increasing coverage instead of sticking to a grid, or OL which tries to hit a lot of destinations with its windy route).
 
^ Yup. I think generally grid-based networks make sense as it allows people to travel fairly directly to their destinations. But we don't need to be slaves to the grid. Like it or not, NYCC and STC are not on the same E/W street. It is absolutely bonkers not to provide a 1 seat ride between these two centres when we made such a big deal to make a 1 seat ride from STC to Bloor-Yonge as to spend billions on it. And Ellesmere is going to be the corridor that will get upgraded east of STC. It will absolutely not be Sheppard.
 

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