Canadian Press / March 16, 2007
Toronto unveils $2.4B light rail system
TORONTO (CP) - The Toronto Transit Commission is to unveil an ambitious blueprint for a light rail system that would crisscross the city far beyond existing and planned subway lines.
The 60- to 80-kilometre web of light rail, to be announced Friday, would cost about $2.4 billion, TTC chairman Adam Giambrone said Thursday.
Some insiders say the plan would improve transit access to virtually every corner of Toronto.
The city doesn't have the money yet, despite an announcement last week of new federal and provincial funding that will allow the extension of the Spadina subway line into York Region.
Giambrone stopped short of calling Friday's announcement an implementation plan with firm schedules and costs.
"You'd be hard-pressed to build an entire light rail network, looking at the existing environmental assessments, in under 10 years," he said.
The city expects to move ahead with the help of a share of gasoline taxes, Giambrone said.
Full story here
Add to that the already existing TTC subways, streetcars and the GO heavy rail, wow. Haha all Toronto needs now is a monorail and it would have it all.
Cheerrs!
~METRO
tatans wrote:Just where do the existing subways, streetcars, buses, GO trains go?????? do they travel around a 5 block area in downtown Tronna????? It would seem 4 or 5 different systems of public transportation might be enough, but I guess not, let's get ALL of Canada to help pay for another system of public transportation eh? plan ahead.
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It doesn't pay to be patronizing about Toronto. The city has a superb public-transit network. I don't know if it covers every nook and cranny but my sense from using the TTC is that there is plenty of coverage for the city proper -- if there aren't streetcar routes, there will be busses. (I am not sure if the trolleybusses have survived.) And of course, subway. Toronto is laid out on a grid system and most public transit follows that. The busiest two subway lines form a cross. It is not a hub-and-spoke layout like Chicago's commuter lines.
Commuters can come into the main station on their GO trains and walk all the way thru downtown and the Eaton Centre before having to expose themselves to the winter elements at Yonge Street, which if I'm not mistaken has a subway stop of its own anyway. Even the underground "pedway" portion between the train station and the galleria-type Eaton Centre is lined with retail. The TTC is innovative and proactive. They have come up with solutions not used in the U.S. to keep people riding their system. For example, when the streetcars late at night go to what we here in Chicago would call "owl" service of every half-hour or so, the TTC figured out that what drives patrons nuts is that helpless feeling of "Did I just miss one? How long am I gonna wait for the next one?" Their solution was to put a blue light on each late-night streetcar; they can be seen for over a mile. This gives the patrons the encouraging news that a streetcar is indeed on the way and worth waiting for. The TTC subway stations even take American money! Think about that. Toronto is a long way from Buffalo or Niagara Falls. But does the Detroit public-transit system take Canajan money? Hah! I've been told that a motorman or driver who has a good working reputation on the TTC can carry that good reputation along when applying for such work in the USA. Ok end rant.
I'm not sure what "genre" the proposed plan is, but it seems to encompass a lot more than extending streetcar lines. On the other hand, if the streetcars ran M.U. style on their own right-of-way they would magically become "light rail." The technology is the same, it's the format that differs.
Perhaps the light-rail will interface with subway terminals or GO stations to speed up commuting. Light-rail, consisting as it can of multiple coaches, and especially on its own ROW, can move more people faster than busses in ordinary traffic. Perhaps the periphery areas need attention. Perhaps, as in the US, there are special cases that need attention (Lester Pearson Airport comes to mind--getting there by public transit is not the easiest thing in the world.) Perhaps they envision some city-to-suburb flexibility. Anyway, although I am not a Canadian taxpayer, and would want more details, the TTC is not about wasting money and I would consider them "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets," unless any opposition proves otherwise.
I look forward to hearing more about the plans and how "heavy" this light rail will in fact be! - a.s.
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