Sandpit
Active Member
In the meantime...
(Also for tourists. Many cities have a free "downtown circulator". And many tourists would prefer a ride where you can actually see out the window, even if it is slower)
Richmond Hill Yonge Line 1 North Subway Extension | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx
- Thread starter 299 bloor call control.
- Start date
In the meantime...
(Also for tourists. Many cities have a free "downtown circulator". And many tourists would prefer a ride where you can actually see out the window, even if it is slower)
micheal_can
Senior Member
Streetcars?
Streety McCarface
Senior Member
Surprise, surprise. Yonge Street has a bus route that follows and extends past the Yonge portion of Line 1.
This is the description from the TTC website, at this link:
The bad news is that the headway is w-i-d-e apart (15 m or worse). Some parts only operate during part of the day (keyword: day). The other bad news is that they use buses.
The 97 Yonge could be an alternative to the subway, especially for local service. But only if it were more frequent.
When they opened the original Yonge subway, they did away with the streetcar service between Union Station and Glen Echo Road (halfway between Lawrence and York Mills Stations). That streetcar line should have been kept to supply local service and emergency service.
The TTC should at least increase the headway of the 97 Yonge bus, and get better marketing for that route. May not be a big improvement, but for some we can bypass the crowds in the Line 1 for the short distances.
The frequencies are arguably higher than that. Remember, the Steeles East, and Steeles west buses travel along the same corridor on Yonge Street and they're packed tight. Let's also not forget VIVA and all the other YRT buses that travel along the corridor. While this line shouldn't be a priority, it is definitely needed to relieve bus congestion north of Finch.
thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
The only problem would be the crush loads and not all the BIAs ( especially those oppressed by the PCs and DoFo ), would be on board.
Sandpit
Active Member
That's actually an idea...The Hong Kong Tram covers largely the same route as the MTR, but survives because it's much cheaper and comes with a view.
north-of-anything
Active Member
I hope this means for people who are coming from or getting on the TTC. Having to switch to the subway for one measly stop to get to the other side of the 407 is not ideal. (Which is why the 407 Station is good for people like me who travel from outside Toronto to outside Toronto in another direction, but that's not this thread.)
TJ O'Pootertoot
Senior Member
Not sure what you mean? Firstly, it's still at least 10 years away and (evidence to date notwithstanding), they'll surely figure out something better than what we have now when it comes to fares by then.
Reading again - possibly you're talking about needing to transfer from GO or YRT to get to where your car is parked, at Langstaff? There's lots of time to figure out stuff like that. It would be interesting if there was literally NO GO parking at RHC, for example. but that doesn't mean offices wouldn't have underground parking etc. It's a potential issue, I suppose, but pretty small in the scheme of things and lots of time to work it out.
Bureaucromancer
Active Member
Assuming we do get an agreement on fares by the time this is imminent I'd agree that the meaningful consideration is that a pedestrian crossing of the 401 is still valuable. Ultimately there will always be some passengers who need to make this particular one stop connection.
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Neutrino
Senior Member
That's what we thought about fare integration on TYSSE...
TJ O'Pootertoot
Senior Member
Indeed! I guess I'm an eternal optimist. Or, at the very least, I figure that if we don't have some sort of fare integration by 2031 I'll just assume the city has been attacked by Mechagodzilla, is run by Diane Ford, is a subtropical climate or some other malady long beyond any kind of fix.
There will be a pedestrian connection. The plan was to basically create a big concourse (think kind of something like the old Skywalk, where UPExpress is) to connect beneath the 407, between the Markham and Richmond Hill halves. Also, one of the existing streets (Red Maple?) will connect below the 407. However, this puts you in the middle of the development, probably like 400m from Yonge Street. The plan for circulating people around the Markham side, and particularly to Yonge, was a shuttle bus system in the short term and a PRT in the long-term though, technology being what it is, who the heck knows. Maybe by the time it's built we'll have autonomous cars and jetpacks and none of this will be necessary. Either way - lots of plans and there will be connections. The trick is making them efficient for all users.
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Bureaucromancer
Active Member
Any documentation on that somewhere?
TJ O'Pootertoot
Senior Member
It's mentioned here...
https://www.calthorpe.com/langstaff
Markham recently redid their website so no links work but I think it's in the Master Plan too, but at a high level.
The plan basically threw in the kitchen sink of state-of-the-art ideas (district energy, underground garbage collection etc.) and the PRT was floated as the sort of thing that could work once it's all built out; it was less an intrinsic part of the plan than a recognition that there still needs to be some sort of innovation when it comes to moving people around and, in particular, shuttling them to/from the subway stations, both of which are close but neither of which are central to the Markham half.
[EDIT] as I just saw there is a better picture than the one I'd found at that Calthorpe link.
Basically, cars would stick to the outside (blue dashed) road; the red is the internal shuttle system , and you can see the pinkish transit concourse connecting to RCH and the blue/red lines with the new under-the-407 connection to the Richmond Hill side.
Bureaucromancer
Active Member
Ahh, here we go. Actual masterplan is at here.
As far as that distributor stuff goes though, I'm actually pretty optimistic now I've seen it. Self driving is pretty close to being able to handle that sort of fixed route, set lane but on street operation already. Even if the lanes it's actually on end up needing melting gear for all weather op that's a lot more affordable than some kind of intention for fixed guideway. There's a very good chance imo that by the time we actually need to start building this out Jacksonville will have set at least some precedent.
As far as that distributor stuff goes though, I'm actually pretty optimistic now I've seen it. Self driving is pretty close to being able to handle that sort of fixed route, set lane but on street operation already. Even if the lanes it's actually on end up needing melting gear for all weather op that's a lot more affordable than some kind of intention for fixed guideway. There's a very good chance imo that by the time we actually need to start building this out Jacksonville will have set at least some precedent.
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TJ O'Pootertoot
Senior Member
Well found - they may be the "high tech capital of Canada" but Markham's website needs some work.
The main thing - beyond the tech - is the thinking behind the circulator system. As you say, given that the timeline for this buildout is obviously shifting well past 2031, the idea of self-driving along this narrow thoroughfare, in one form or another actually seems more feasible.
The main thing - beyond the tech - is the thinking behind the circulator system. As you say, given that the timeline for this buildout is obviously shifting well past 2031, the idea of self-driving along this narrow thoroughfare, in one form or another actually seems more feasible.
Neutrino
Senior Member
Ugh, why reinvent the wheel with some PRT scheme? Just create good bike lanes and safe pedestrian streets.
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