As U.S. cities chop mass transit despite high ridership, at least one N. American city gets it....

[marmar]

T O R O N T O


Details from the Toronto Transit Commission on the Transit City Project, which expands Toronto city-style transit into the far-flung burbs:



Why does Toronto need Transit City?

The Toronto Transit City Light Rail Plan is an exciting initiative that will revolutionize transit and transportation across Toronto. Its far-reaching lines will revitalize neighbourhoods, spur economic growth and clean the air we breathe. Seven new Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines will bring reliable, fast, quiet and comfortable transit service to many Toronto neighbourhoods. Transit City has been strongly endorsed by the TTC, the City of Toronto, and Metrolinx, the regional transportation agency.The Province of Ontario has announced funding for the construction of the lines and they are incorporated into the Regional Transportation Plan recently proposed by Metrolinx.

Transit City routes have been selected to reinforce the strong pro-transit focus of the City’s Official Plan.Transit City routes have been the subject of discussions at hundreds of public meetings during the City of Toronto’s Official Plan public consultation. All seven routes will connect with the existing TTC subway system,GO Rail lines, other Transit City routes, and planned rapid transit lines in Durham, York and Peel regions. They will provide new direct high quality transit links to areas that are currently far removed from rapid transit, including the north, west, and eastern areas of Toronto.

Transit City Video: http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects_and_initiatives/Transit_city/index.jsp


What is Light Rail Transit?

Light Rail Transit (LRT) is an updated and improved version of the streetcars that have moved Torontonians for decades, and will bring a new concept of reliable and comfortable transit service to Toronto’s busiest transit routes. Using advanced and proven technology from around the world, modern electrically-powered Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) will carry passengers in their own dedicated transit lanes, in most cases in the middle of the road.The smooth, fast, and quiet LRVs will feature easy step-free access from wide, sheltered boarding platforms.Transit City routes will be fully accessible, so that people with all levels of mobility can use the service with confidence and ease.

You’ll be able to board the LRVs at any one of several doors, speeding up the service and reducing waiting times. Inside, the LRVs will have a bright, contemporary feel, with air conditioning, large windows, comfortable seats, and lots of standing space and hand holds. They’ll be more like a modern subway train than existing TTC streetcars or buses.

LRT service will be reliable. Service won’t be affected by traffic delays, because the LRVs and their passengers will be in their own reserved transit lanes.Traffic signals will give priority to transit riders. Stops will normally be 400 metres apart, and LRVs will operate frequently, like the subway.



Where Transit City is taking Toronto

Don Mills

This 18-kilometre long line will run along the Don Mills Road corridor from the Bloor-Danforth Subway to Steeles Avenue and potentially into York Region.

•Current bus routes: 25 Don Mills, 81 Thorncliffe Park
•Ridership in 2006: 15 million
•Ridership in 2021: 24 million

Eglinton Crosstown

This 31-kilometre long route will link Kennedy Station in the east with Pearson Airport and the Mississauga Transitway in the west. The line will operate in an underground tunnel from approximately Laird Drive in the east to Keele Street in the west.

•Current bus routes: 32 Eglinton West, 34 Eglinton East
•Ridership in 2006: 32 million
•Ridership in 2021: 52 million

Etobicoke- Finch West

This 18-kilometre long route will link Finch Station with northern Etobicoke, provide direct service to Humber College and could be extended to Mississauga, the Woodbine racetrack or Pearson Airport.

•Current bus routes: 36 Finch West
•Ridership in 2006: 15 million
•Ridership in 2021: 24 million

Jane

This 17-kilometre long route will stretch along Jane Street from the Bloor-Danforth Subway to the new Steeles West Station on the Spadina Subway and, potentially, further into York Region.

•Current bus route: 35 Jane
•Ridership in 2006: 15 million
•Ridership in 2021: 19 million

Scarborough Malvern

This 15-kilometre long route will link Kennedy Station with northern Scarborough and Malvern, and provide direct service to the University of Toronto at Scarborough and Centennial College’s Ellesmere Campus.

•Current bus routes: 116 Morningside, 86 Scarborough
•Ridership in 2006: 8 million
•Ridership in 2021: 22 million

Sheppard East

This 14-kilometre long route will extend rapid transit service east from Don Mills Station to northern Scarborough, Malvern, and, potentially, Durham Region.

•Current bus routes: 85 Sheppard East, 190 Scarborough Centre Rocket
•Ridership in 2006: 9 million
•Ridership in 2021: 20 million

Waterfront West

This 11-kilometre long extension of the Harbourfront streetcar line will link Union Station and Exhibition Place with Parkdale, High Park, and southern Etobicoke, and could be extended into Mississauga.

•Current routes: 501 Queen, 508 Lake Shore, 509 Harbourfront
•Ridership in 2006: 8 million
•Ridership in 2021: 15 million


http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects_and_initiatives/Transit_city/index.jsp

[rockymountaindem]

1. That's good, because their current system sucks n/t

[marmar]

2. That is such a complete and total lie.......

No system in North America is more efficient at linking subway, streetcar and bus than the TTC. Not New York, not DC, not Chicago ..... none.

[rockymountaindem]

4. Right, which is why it's great if you want to go from Union to Finch, transfer to a bus and ride

halfway to Sudbury. If you want to take a short ride in the downtown core (at off-peak hours) when it's -30, it's an enormous ripoff. I'm sorry, but when you've got basically four subway lines in a city covering the huge area of the GTA, I don't consider that a great accomplishment.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

11. I found public transit in Toronto horrible too

I loved the island airport though,

[baldguy]

3. Why should Amerkins pay attenshun to wut them Canooks are doin'?

There just a bunch of Gawd Dam SOCIALISTS!

[napoleon_in_rags]

5. Anybody cutting transit is foolish.

That's your guarantee that working class folks can get to work even if they are getting paid very little, its insurance that the economy can run on peanuts if it has to.

[davidpdx]

6. Well I hate to point out the obvious, but Toronto is a Canadian city

But there are plenty of US cities that you could use for examples. Portland has been long expanding their transit system and trying to encourage and expand ridership. I've never been to Toronto, but my wife has, so I have no idea about their system.

[marmar]

7. Did you not read the headline of the post, it says at least one N AMERICAN city gets it....

..... and I'm sure Portland's mass transit system is fine, but it's not nearly as extensive as Toronto's and doesn't serve a metro area of 6 million people. The point of this post was to contrast Toronto with Boston, a metro area of comparable size which is cutting transit.

[davidpdx]

10. Ok, I missed N. American. But comparing Canada and the US

is not really good as you have different tax systems and types of governments. I get what you are saying though, the cities are about the same size. Portland is quite a bit smaller then either of those two, but growing (probably 1/3 of the size).

[MasonJar]

8. Just visit Europe! Paris is so easy to transverse, as is London. The

Europeans take trains everywhere. They are so sensible.

[marmar]

9. Been there too......This post is just focused on North America.

The Paris Metro gets my vote for best system in the world, in that every part of the city is covered by the Metro. The London Underground is fine, if not always functional, but is too expensive.

[madrchsod]

12. chicago has rail lines 50 miles out into the suburbs

and there`s a planned 100 mile line. chicago has decent rail and bus transport..the cta unlimited day pass for 5.75 is what more people are using for weekend trips to the city and it`s a great way to sight seeing the city. it may not be "perfect" but it`s cheaper and faster than driving. chicago is buying 38 new buses this year.