Toronto Ontario Line 3 | ?m | ?s

Here's my concept for a new RER station at Queen to serve as the western Union station that Metrolinx has been talking about:

Using 10 metre wide platforms, there appears to be ample room to fit a 4 track, 4 platform station here (with potential for 5 tracks, 4 platforms), with the only expropriation here being that industrial site south of Forence St, and a handful of buildings on the south side of Florence St. I figure 4 tracks should be more than enough to handle Barrie, Kitchener and Milton RER and UPX, especially since not all trains would be stopping in station. But if more platforms were needed there doesn't appear to be any significant physical barrier in the way. The site should be able to handle 8 platforms, if some of the the platforms were build crossing over (or under) Florence Street. The only issue might be a condo development at 440 Dufferin Street, but that would be fairly trivial to demolish if necessary.

The RER station would connect to the TTC station via an underground pedestrian passage shown in grey, of about 200 metres in length. That's about 50% longer than the TTC Spadina Station transfer, but much shorter than transfers that exist at Bloor GO and Union GO.

Note that the track diagram is just a very rough sketch for illustrative purposes.

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That's creative thinking, but the walk from the last car in the train (if 12 cars) would be more like 450 meters, about 6 minutes. 200 meters from Union subway station gets you past the tracks and into the office building at the AC Centre. I think an RER tunnel under Union is probably the best idea, but if that's too much cash, a shorter one from the west (Bathurst to York) for the northwest lines could also work.
 
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Translude15 said:
Can't keep making excuses forever. Plus, Nagoya's metro system is 93 km long. Not exactly extravagant.
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I'm just being realistic. After the TYSSE, Eglinton-Crosstown, Scarborough subway extension, Finch West LRT and GO RER - just how much more funds are available to build the kind of DRL the city truly deserves? We need a DRL from Mt Dennis to Seneca Hill with stops every 600 metres along Queen. But whether we will actually get anything near adequate is another question.
 
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We certainly can raise the funds for it if needed. a 0.5% sales tax within the City of Toronto would generate $250 Million/year. Assuming Relief Line costs of $11.3 Billion (Sheppard to Mt. Dennis), and if cost were split 50% City, 25% Provincial, 25% Federal, it would be paid for in 23 years. That's much faster than we're paying off the Scarborough Subway.

0.50% sales tax is low enough that I think it could be sold to taxpayers once they understand what it will be building us.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
0.50% sales tax is low enough that I think it could be sold to taxpayers once they understand what it will be building us.
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If you bought $15,000 in taxable "stuff" per year, that'd cost $75/year extra. A cup of coffee at Tim Hortons would cost a penny extra. Considering how this would serve millions of commuters per day, cutting commute times by more than an hour a day in many cases, I think this tax would be a relatively easy sell.
 
Here's a link to a list of large American cities with sales taxes.

Of America's most populous cities, the following impose the highest combined state, county, and local sales tax rates:

  1. Seattle, WA – 9.6% (0.10%)
  2. Oakland, CA – 9.5% (0.75%)
  3. Chicago, IL – 9.25% (10.25% as of Jan. 1, 2016) (1.25%)
  4. Memphis, TN – 9.25% (0.00%)
  5. Nashville, TN – 9.25% (0.00%)
  6. Los Angeles, CA – 9.0% (0.25%)
  7. Long Beach, CA – 9.0% (0.25%)
  8. New Orleans, LA – 9.0% (0.00%)
  9. New York, NY – 8.88% (4.88%)
  10. San Jose, CA – 8.75% (tie) (0.50%)
  11. San Francisco, CA – 8.75% (tie) (0.25%)

Ontario (and other provinces) should at the very least, dedicate a portion to the municipalities under their control, and actually say that.
 
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Hopkins123 said:
Sadly, I don't think Canada has the capital wealth (or political will) to build anything nearly as extravagant as Nagoya's metro system. The time to have built the DRL really was 60 years ago when these things came cheap and eminent domain was king (before the rise of NIMBYs and special interests).
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Who in the world would consider Nagoya's metro system "extravagant"?
 
ksun said:
Who in the world would consider Nagoya's metro system "extravagant"?
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I'm only going based on the map that was posted here featuring several lines and numerous stations, even a circle line.

If that image wasn't extravagant in scope compared to Toronto's system then I don't know what is.
 
CapitalSeven said:
That's creative thinking, but the walk from the last car in the train (if 12 cars) would be more like 450 meters, about 6 minutes. 200 meters from Union subway station gets you past the tracks and into the office building at the AC Centre. I think an RER tunnel under Union is probably the best idea, but if that's too much cash, a shorter one from the west (Bathurst to York) for the northwest lines could also work.
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The same thing can be said of Spadina Station. The transfer from the last car there would be about 300 metres.

Really I'm okay with any solution to connect RER to the subway system that doesn't involve diverting the Relief Line. There have been official proposals to divert the Relief Line southwest to meet with RER, which seems like the worst possible solution to me. That causes the RL to miss a ton of employment and residential areas along Queen.
 
W. K. Lis said:
Here's a link to a list of large American cities with sales taxes.

Of America's most populous cities, the following impose the highest combined state, county, and local sales tax rates:

  1. Seattle, WA – 9.6% (0.10%)
  2. Oakland, CA – 9.5% (0.75%)
  3. Chicago, IL – 9.25% (10.25% as of Jan. 1, 2016) (1.25%)
  4. Memphis, TN – 9.25% (0.00%)
  5. Nashville, TN – 9.25% (0.00%)
  6. Los Angeles, CA – 9.0% (0.25%)
  7. Long Beach, CA – 9.0% (0.25%)
  8. New Orleans, LA – 9.0% (0.00%)
  9. New York, NY – 8.88% (4.88%)
  10. San Jose, CA – 8.75% (tie) (0.50%)
  11. San Francisco, CA – 8.75% (tie) (0.25%)

Ontario (and other provinces) should at the very least, dedicate a portion to the municipalities under their control, and actually say that.
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The municipal sales tax in many of these cities isn't negligible. Tulsa has a 3% municipal sales tax! A 3% sales tax in Toronto would pay for gold paved roads.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
The municipal sales tax in many of these cities isn't negligible. Tulsa has a 3% municipal sales tax! A 3% sales tax in Toronto would pay for gold paved roads.
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Loading on muni taxes is easier in a country with no federal sales tax. Oklahoma's state rate is 4.5%. Sales tax is, like Land Transfer Tax, pro-cyclical so there's only so much scope to push Toronto's finances further in that direction without risking catastrophe.
 
dowlingm said:
Loading on muni taxes is easier in a country with no federal sales tax. Oklahoma's state rate is 4.5%. Sales tax is, like Land Transfer Tax, pro-cyclical so there's only so much scope to push Toronto's finances further in that direction without risking catastrophe.
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The U.S.A. has an indirect excise tax instead. In Canada, our excise tax was replaced with the direct GST.
 
Okay we need to market this line with a new name :
How about the QDL oh that won't work people will call it the Cutey line (say it slowly) or how about the "DQ" line which stands for Don Mills & Queen (skip the M) & maybe get Dairy Queen to subsidize some of cost !
Think about it every time you get on you will be have a craving for an ice cream cone !
Just a thought.
 
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