Andrew Coyne:
"Toronto is the only city in the world where traffic improves in a transit strike, since the streetcars are no longer blocking both lanes"
What an idiot. Since when did Macleans publish bad science fiction?
Just for the record, they banned parking on some major streets and Toronto was still a clusterf**k this weekend.
Also, streetcars don't swerve, cut you off, take up two lanes, or fly magically to Centre Island. Sometimes the second lane has to stop momentarily for passengers exiting the streetcar, but only in a fool's mind would that qualify as blocking.
The trouble with the TTC, the real trouble, in my opinion, is that the city didn't dig enough subway tunnels when it was affordable to do so.
It's just simply not possible to raise enough capital to buy up property and put in another viable line, whether you are a private company or the government. The ill fated Steeles line went nowhere, in more than one sense.
St. Clair's dedicated streetcar line might improve things, but given what happened with Spadina, I'm wary.
"The trouble with the TTC, the real trouble, in my opinion, is that the city didn't dig enough subway tunnels when it was affordable to do so."
Then why is there money sitting in the bank waiting for the Keele St. line up to York University and the City of Vaughan?
"The delays puzzle me because, for once, they do not appear to be about money. There is lots of money. In March, 2006, the Government of Ontario handed the TTC $670-million to finance the subway extension. They later gave another $200-million. The feds pledged $697-million last year. Adam Giambrone, chair of the TTC, said this week -- putting a positive spin on things -- “The money is in a bank account, earning money."
"“We got the money, so why has there been no construction?” Sandra Yeung Racco, a Vaughan city councillor and a member of the Spadina Subway Committee, which groups York region councillors, said today. “Why isn’t the shovel in the ground?"
"Environmental approval for the subway is complete, says Nicole Lippa-Gasparro, the spokeswoman for Jim Bradley, Ontario’s minister of transportation. She said the TTC did let a contract recently, to ensure it didn’t lose the money. “A contract to relocate a storm sewer on Steeles Avenue was awarded in February,” she said. "
Perhaps this is the reason for the delay:
"Yesterday, Mr. Giambrone said the project can’t go ahead because the TTC wants to do the work in house, whereas Ottawa wants it to tender to the private sector."
[External Link]
So the TTC is adamant that only they know how to dig tunnels - must come as a surprise to the people who dug the Channel Tunnel or the Seikan Tunnel ( [External Link]). The TTC is sounding more like the old Ontario Hydro every day.
As for the St. Clair line, that too appears to be a screw up as local merchants have had sidewalks narrow and parking spaces disappear.
John B.
I meant actual subway lines to increase capacity.
The Vaughan extension doesn't add to the number of people that can get downtown or around the city. It certainly makes thing more convenient for York U students and the residents of the condos that will pop up, but I've been to Vaughan so I don't buy the hype.
I guess maybe some families up there will give up their fourth or fifth car, but what is it really going to solve?
Now an Eglinton line....
Dara:
The city doesn't necessarily need more subway lines, the solution is partly at hand - GO Transit. When I've worked downtown I always took the GO train on the Richmond Hill line (I use the Old Cummer stop in North York). This line also stops at the 401 (Oriole) which is about one or two hundred yards from the Leslie station on the Sheppard line. From what I've seen, this CN line is lightly used and could easily accommodate more trains if the riders were found. The Sheppard line could also be extended west to intersect the Spadina line I referred to above.
The Bloor/Danforth line also stops at a GO station at Main St., another way of taking load off the subway for people travelling to the core. I expect similar solutions could be found further west where the GO Transit line to Aurora travels or in Etobicoke to hook up with the Lakeshore west line.
John,
It's my impression that you need a car to live in any of the northern suburbs of Toronto. It's simply too widely spaced and committed to the driveway->parking lot dynamic to justify a bus service frequent enough to change that. Adding some stops to the top of the Spadina line is not going to improve access for that many people.
I think the money is better spent chasing the potential riders who could ditch their car entirely. That's where you can see a real ridership increase.
Then again, too many 905ers think it's alright to steal my parking spot because it doesn't have grass on either side so maybe we should do more to encourage them to take a train downtown.
Dawg supports the continued oppression of the poor, the elderly, the infirm and the young, by the TTC Unions.
In Toronto we get better service and smiles from those getting minimum wage, then the overpaid TTC
workers.
Dara: You do need a car in the 'burbs and public transit is next to impossible when travelling to work there. That works both ways since many people now live in Toronto (the old City of Toronto) and work in the suburbs. Just check all of the new offices and warehouses along Highways 404 in Markham/Richmond Hill or the 401 in Mississauga. That said, GO Transit has been a success story with people driving to the station and taking the train. Too bad that model only works with a downtown hub where the peripheral office nodes in Etobicoke, Scarborough or Mid-town Toronto get short shrift. That's one big reason why such non core areas suffer the most in a recession - you can barely give away office space in those areas in a downturn.
One way of partially alleviating the problem is some form of transit integration between GO, TTC and suburban systems. Much talked about with little action.