Solid Snake
Active Member
Voters are mainly drivers...
Who hate gridlock. And would prefer to take transit if they had the reasonable possibility of doing so.
and how would local LRT help them, knowing that most of them takes the highways to work in Toronto or across the GTA? A GO train system like the National Rail Service in London and the RER in Paris is the reason why drivers don't drive over there to go to work, not the Paris LRT (streetcars really) or the DLR. Being able to access the main city and working areas in a region with a reliable mode of transit that is fast, comfortable and convenient in term of schedule is key.
LRT will never achieve that. The Lakeshore line being half and hour or less both ways 7 days a week, is a HUGE accomplishment that puts the GO train in the NSR and RER territory. Now all that's needed is for the lines to be electrified so the trains can travel faster and be more frequent on all the lines and more infrastructure for parking and stations, Then, and only then, gridlock will drop. Local LRT in Kitchener, Hamilton and Mississauga won't do that. All they do is using billions of dollars that could improve the GO system faster.
Who would give up driving for a 200$ + dollars a month for a Regional pass that limits your access to a train, to your choice of destinations, slow trains (compare to Europe, GO is slow), overcrowded trains and once you do make it to Union, the subway is overcrowded and frequent interruption of service? Some do, but not enough of them do and LRT won't change anything.
LRT are good but not ahead of a better subway and GO Train network. That's how London and Paris has done it. They did that first and then went to light rail to complement their core service.
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