Transit City

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 This article or section contains information about a planned or expected public transportation infrastructure in Canada.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available.

Transit City is a plan for public transportation for the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, announced by Mayor of Toronto David Miller and Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Adam Giambrone on March 16, 2007. Since then, preliminary engineering work has been done to prioritise lines for construction and to select more specific route alignments, and construction of at least one line is set to begin in 2009. [1]

This plan integrates public transportation objectives outlined in the City of Toronto Official Plan, the TTC Ridership Growth Strategy and Miller's 2006 election platform.

The plan calls for a series of transit corridors, providing Right of Way for an unspecified type of Light Rail Vehicle. These corridors will be integrated with existing subway, streetcar, bus and RT routes. In most cases there is already bus or streetcar service (in the case of the waterfront corridor) along the corridors.

Contents

[edit] Seven transit corridors

The plan proposes 120 kilometres of electric light rail along seven routes. The proposed network would carry 175 million riders a year, of which 75 million would be new TTC users.[2]

The seven proposed corridors are:

  • Eglinton Crosstown LRT: The longest (at over 30km) proposed corridor would be along Eglinton Avenue, from somewhere near the Toronto-Mississauga border to Kennedy Station. It is unclear where exactly the line will terminate in the west end, with the possibilities being either Eglinton Avenue West at Renforth Drive, where it would connect to the planned Mississauga Busway, or a few kilometres northwest of there at Pearson International Airport. Between Keele Street and Laird Drive, the road has been deemed too narrow for a right of way, and therefore the LRT will run in a tunnel (with underground stations), much like the cancelled Eglinton West subway line.[3]
  • Jane LRT: One running along Jane Street, from Steeles West Station on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line (east of the Jane/Steeles intersection), connecting with the Bloor-Danforth subway at (presumably) Jane Station. This line will likely be tunnelled for about 2 km from St. Clair Avenue to Bloor Street. [3]
  • Waterfront West LRT: One along the western waterfront. This line would run along Lake Shore Boulevard West to the Exhibition Grounds where it would then use a portion of the current route 509/511 right of way along Fleet Street and would then take Fort York and Bremner Boulevards to access the Bay Street tunnel and Union Station.[3]
  • Scarborough RT (Extension) : This project is not a new light rail line, rather an extension of an existing one contained in Transit City. The Scarborough RT differs from the above projects in that while it is not a subway, it must be grade-separated from traffic. The extension will take the RT east from its present terminus at McCowan Rd. south of Highway 401 two stops. The first proposed station will be situated east of Markham Road such that it will flank the adjacent Centennial College campus. The line will then curve north to terminate at Sheppard Avenue East, connecting with the Sheppard East LRT. In the future, an in-fill station may be added about 1 km east of McCowan at Bellamy Road to serve the Consilium business area, and the line may also be extended north into the community of Malvern over a former railbed just east of Markham Road.
  • The total estimated cost for implementation of all corridors (including construction costs and rolling stock) is $6 billion (2007 figure).[2] The plan does not specify where the funding will come from, nor the relative priority of the corridors.

[edit] Expected costs

In November 2007, the TTC provided has provided an updated estimate of the costs of the proposal in its capital budget.[4] The initial estimate of $6.1 billion has been revised upward to $8.3 billion. The initial estimate did not cover requirements for storage and maintenance facilities for the light rail vehicles - and underestimated the number of vehicles that would be required.

[edit] Priority

The TTC is prepared to fund the entire cost of the network over a longer period of time. The highest priority is assigned to the Sheppard East and Etobicoke-Finch West lines, which could be built within the next few years. In addition to the mentioned lines, it is likely that some sort of link would be established between the two lines so that they could share a single storage facility. While these two do not represent the lines with the highest potential ridership, they are the cheapest and easiest to implement. The TTC is commencing with the Environmental Assessment process for the Sheppard East line, a process now shortened by the provincial government to six months (latest end date of August 2008). This means that construction could start within the next few years on this line.

[edit] Expected opening dates of LRT lines

Sheppard East LRT: 2012
Etobicoke-Finch West LRT: 2013
Waterfront West LRT: 2015
Eglinton Crosstown LRT: 2015
Don Mills LRT: 2016
Jane LRT: 2017
Scarborough Malvern LRT: 2018

[edit] Other LRT routes

  • Waterfront East LRT

A network of routes is being planned for the redeveloped waterfront lands. While not part of Transit City because funding and design will be handled by Waterfront Toronto, they will be similar in design to the Spadina and St. Clair Rights Of Way. The two routes planned so far are: Cherry Street, a stub leading south off of King Street. This segment will initially run as far south as the railroad tracks, consisting of two stops in either direction, and will likely be a branch of the 504 King car. The other route is the Leslieville streetcar that will run on Commissioners Street and the southern portion of Leslie Street. IT has not been decided how these routes will enter Union station, as they will require a complete redesign of the Bay/Queen's Quay intersection and the Bay Street Tunnel/Union Station streetcar terminal.

When the Jane LRT opens, the 512 St. Clair will be extended approx. 2 km west of its present terminus, Gunns Road near Keele Street to Jane and St. Clair.

This LRT was planned before Transit City. Originally, it was to run from Kennedy Station east on Eglinton Avenue and southwest in its own right-of-way (ROW) through the very wide Kingston Road to either Victoria Park station via Danforth Avenue or the Bingham loop at Victoria Park and Kingston Road. Now, however, it is likely that the portion along Eglinton will be eliminated as it duplicates the route of the Malvern LRT. Eventually, this route would link up to the Leslieville streetcar to provide a transfer-less trip to the downtown core, however the narrow widths of both Kingston Road and Queen Street west of Victoria Park are prohibitive seeing as this proposed route will need to be built entirely in an ROW. Newer designs show the line originating at either Main Station or Victoria Park Station on the Bloor-Danforth Line.

[edit] MoveOntario 2020

On June 15, 2007, the Government of Ontario announced its MoveOntario 2020 plan, that calls for a major overhaul and expansion of the Greater Toronto Area's transit systems, including the Transit City proposal, that will cost an estimated $17.5 billion in provincial and federal funding over a 12 year period.[5] The provincial government proposes to provide two-thirds of the funds ($11.5 billion), and will ask the federal government to pay the remaining one-third ($6 billion).[5] However, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is currently uncommitted to this spending plan.[5] The province's $17.5 billion MoveOntario 2020 plan calls for a total number of 52 transit projects in the GTA to be funded, with 95% of the projects completed by the year 2020.[6]

[edit] Criticism

Although reaction to the Transit City plan has generally been positive, its precursors -- the previously constructed streetcar rights-of-way on Spadina Avenue and St. Clair Avenue -- have faced heavy criticism among some local business leaders and residents for taking away space for cars and blocking through streets.[7] The Transit City plan partially addresses these criticisms by running portions of the line underground, such as along parts of Eglinton Avenue. Although some routes, such as Don Mills Road, offer wide streets with expansion potential and few cross streets, there are problems with other routes. In particular, there is the problem of implementing a right-of-way tramway on streets such as Jane Street and Pape Avenue. These are arterial roads with two lanes in each direction, and it would be impossible to give transit vehicles an ROW without sacrificing parking space, sidewalk space or traffic lanes. It is for those reasons that the TTC also proposes to run the final kilometre or two of these lines underground, which is why they are not priority lines (for the prohibitive cost). Furthermore, the Spadina streetcar right-of-way has not realized promised increases in speed, likely due to design compromises demanded by motorists, and problems with implementing priority traffic signals.[8] Many of these compromises were repeated on the St. Clair right-of-way, and it is unclear how they will be avoided throughout the Transit City network. Although it has been pointed out that in Calgary the C-Train does not have traffic priority in the downtown core, but does have traffic priority in the suburbs. The St. Clair and Spadina Line are both Downtown lines.

Though the provincial government is providing support for the capital expenditure to build Transit City, it will provide no additional funds to operate the system. In some part due to the recent budget crisis, concerns arose over the potential mothballing, or at least abandonment of weekend service on the recently opened Sheppard subway line because it operates with a cost recovery rate considerably lower than the TTC average of 75%. While the Transit City LRT routes will likely operate at or above that rate, they will still add significantly to the TTC's operating budget (While routes like 39 Finch East have excellent cost recovery rates, they amass huge daily losses due to high service levels) sparking some fear as to whether the city can still afford to pay for it.

There is also some criticism about the specific routes. The Sheppard Line is surrounded in controversy because the Sheppard Subway Line is very underused, and was considered for mothballing. The LRT is proposed to replace the extension of the subway itself, but critics point out that service on nearby Finch Avenue is far more frequent. During the morning rush, the headway on Finch is 79 seconds as opposed to nearly 5 minutes on the Sheppard East bus. Efforts to divert traffic on Finch 2km south to the Sheppard subway to complete the trip to Yonge have been unsuccessful, as express service on Finch now runs 6 days a week. Critics also point out that in order to connect the Sheppard LRT to the Finch West LRT, a link will likely be established on Finch Avenue East from Yonge to Don Mills, furthering its case for an LRT.

Analysis of Transit City proposal by Dr. Richard Soberman

Dr. Richard Soberman - a well-known expert in public transit - has analysed the Transit City proposal. He offers the following criticism in a report issued in January 2008:[9]

Toronto Transit City and MoveOntario 2020 both emerged as preludes to election campaigns. They are examples of ‘top-down’ planning where elected officials dictate what their professional advisors will implement, a reversal of the usual approach in which proposals are generated by professionals, in response to identified needs, for consideration by the body politic. Both the process and the outcomes lead to a number of questions regarding:

  • the main objectives and goals that the proposed plans actually attempt to
achieve,
  • the a priori selection of LRT technology for all of Toronto Transit City (to the
exclusion of other higher order transit technology), and
  • the practicality of implementing true LRT and BRT services in their own
rights-of-way on all of the designated routes.

[edit] Other light rail systems in Canada

Calgary's C-Train
Calgary's C-Train

The renaissance of light rail in Canada began in 1978 when Edmonton, Alberta adopted the German Siemens-Duewag U2 system, followed three years later by Calgary, Alberta. These modern light-rail systems are more like subway or metro systems that operate at street level. They include modern, multi-car trains that can only be accessed at stations that are spaced anywhere from a couple blocks to a mile or more apart. The closest Toronto has come to introducing Light Rail was the Scarborough RT, using the same technology as the Vancouver SkyTrain System. However unlike most Light Rail Systems, the Scarborough RT requires mandatory grade separation and uses a unique propulsion technology that has proved unreliable in poor weather.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://stevemunro.ca/?p=770 Steve Munro, "Transit City Update", 3 March 2008
  2. ^ a b Kalinowski, Tess; John Spears. "Success driven by TTC: Miller", GTA, Toronto Star, March 17, 2007, pp. B.1. Retrieved on 2007-06-17. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Transit City Report (HTML). Toronto Transit Commission Report. City of Toronto (March 21, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-17.
  4. ^ Commission Report Macro
  5. ^ a b c Gray, Jeff. "Ontario planning $11.5-billion in public transit", The Globe and Mail, June 16, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-18. 
  6. ^ Kalinoswski, Tess. "A $17,5B transit promise", Toronto Star, June 16, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-17. 
  7. ^ Home page (HTML). Save our St. Clair. Save our St. Clair Citizen's Group (2007-08-20). Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
  8. ^ Wickens, Stephen. "Rapid transit? Not on Spadina", The Globe and Mail, 2005-05-07, pp. M2. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. (English)  It can be seen for free at this web location that is not the Globe and Mail [1]
  9. ^ GTA Transportation Portal - Report

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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