Steve Munro can't eat his Wheaties without having first spent 10 hours criticizing something someone is doing with transit. Sometimes he's right, sometimes he's insightful - mostly I find it annoying at this point (this project being entirely beside the point). Armchair engineer. Yawn.
It clearly stated by York, they want to remove 2,500 buses off Yonge St, yet at no time do they state any plans to remove traffic other than they want 2,500 more cars on it. Again, like a lot of places, dealing with transit is the easy thing to do and not deal with the root of the problem in the first place, "THE Single Driver Car".
This is silliness. So you're criticizing them for servicing transit riders? Isn't it implicit that people taking transit aren't taking cars? Build a new condo on Yonge. Don't put a subway there. How are people getting around? Bus or car, right? So if you build a subway, it's serving someone who would otherwise be taking a bus or a car?
And they ARE dealing with the root of the problem which is how we've built communities for the past 60-odd years. They're trying to build dense, transit-oriented development along corridors and in nodes so people in York Region - most of whom need cars - won't. You can challenge whether you think that will work or whatever, but to not understand how they're trying to alter a suburban built form is just wrong.
but by all means, let's criticize one of the few suburbs trying to promote transit and intensification.
More important, who came up with this 2,500 daily buses number as its off the wall. Using this number is saying 1,250 buses are going each way daily which is not true.
It's true, so you're wrong again. Come stand at Yonge/Steeles from, say, 8 am to 11 am and count how many buses there are. You can literally stand anywhere along that corridor south of Finch and see 7 or 8 buses going north and south at any given time.
There's plenty to question amid the "propaganda," but this is a fact.
Using 1,250 numbers at 100 riders per bus works out to be 12,500 riders going in one direction. If a subway is to start at 10-12,000 per hour, this meams there will be only 2.5 (3) trains a day going to RHC.
Say what now?
Based on numbers I did a few years ago, Yonge is seeing 22,000 week day ridership today going in one direction, with the bulk taking place at peak time for 2 hours.
Oh, you did numbers. I see. I don't have my own numbers.
If there is to be no buses on Yonge St and no subway within a km or more of a rider, what do you think they will be using to get to work??
Erm....there are buses on Yonge right now, you know.
There will still be some local buses but not the almost-literal caravan that goes there now. Once you're done standing at Yonge/Steeles and counting buses, try driving in the right lanes for a while. Worst bus knuckles in town.
York has expanded its road system to 7 lanes feeding into Toronto few 7 lane roads while the rest are 5 lanes and telling Toronto you deal with our single drivers.
Riiiiight. Well, I count 6 lanes at this
Google Streetview link.
Six in the CITY of Toronto. And six in the SUBURB of York Region.
But what's really funny is that if you do a 360 you can count SEVEN buses in view; exactly like I said.
As stated in the past, "THERE IS NO FRIGGING CAPICITY SOUTH OF BLOOR" Nor south of Eglinton for "TORONTO RIDERS", let alone Finch. Until the DRL is built to Steeles, York can "STUFF" it until its built.
Oooh, tough talk. So, we both know the DRL is never going to Steeles; Sheppard is the furthest anyone has suggested and that was Metrolinx, while Toronto was too far up its own ass dealing with Scarborough.
And if you're trying to help Toronto riders, you really should be screening people at Finch. Don't let any foreigners board the train until you know that there are downstream people have seats clear to Union. Be warned - they look eerily like Torontonians and walk among you. Or, you know, conveniently ignore the thousands of York Region riders always on the train and pretend they're not there, since you made them STUFF their subway.
(Also, you're wrong again. The issue is not capacity SOUTH of Bloor. The issue is capacity AT Bloor.)
Only then, an extension can be looked at as a 2nd Yonge Line, as Yonge will need another one by 2050 or sooner at the rate of development is taking place along it now and the future.
By then we'll all have flying cars. Duh!
(No, we probably won't. It's still more likely than your second Yonge line.)
In conclusion - the propaganda may be stupid and a waste of taxpayer money. I coulda written the website better and Munro is right about some of the stuff they get wrong or mis-communicate. The extension is still the least stupid transit project being considered in the entire GTA save for RER and the DRL.
