Subways

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A Rose By Any Other Name (Updated)

Profound thanks to the many readers who commented on this item!  Based on all this feedback, not to mention my own preferences, the list of new station names is almost complete.  Here’s what it looks like now:

Bloor-Danforth East:

Scarborough Junction, Massey Creek, Dentonia Park, East Toronto, North Beach, East York, Linsmore, [Donlands], Ελλας, Riverdale, Playter, [Castle Frank, Sherbourne]

Bloor-Danforth West: 

Roy’s Square, Yorkville, Rochdale, Lowther, The Annex, Willowvale, [Ossington], Brockton, [Lansdowne], West Toronto, Parkside, [High Park], Swansea, Baby Point, [Old Mill], Kingsway, Montgomery, Six Points

Yonge:

Finch’s, Willowdale, Lansing, Hogg’s Hollow, Muir Gardens, Rebellion, Belt Line, Avoca, North Toronto, Crescent, Roy’s Square, Rainbow, Carlton, O’Keefe’s Lane, City Hall, Melinda, Royal York

University/Spadina: 

[St. Andrew], Osgoode Hall, [St. Patrick], Taddle Creek, Planetarium, Rochdale, Lowther, Casa Loma, Wells Hill, York, Viewmount, [Lawrence West], Arc en Ciel, Downsview, Wilson Heights.

I am amused that we have two “rainbows” one in each official language.  Moreover, the one formerly known as Wellesley has the most boring decor on the system.  Just imagine what a few inspired decorators could do! 

The original post and comments follow below. Continue reading →

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All Night Subway Service?

The Transit Commissioners have forwarded a letter from another of Toronto’s long-time transit advocates, Philip Webb, to their staff for study.  The nub of Webb’s proposal is that the TTC should stop trying to conduct maintenance a few hours at a time in the middle of the night and simply close down sections of the subway for a day or two on weekends when necessary.  Continue reading →

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TTC Capital Budget: Where Will The Money Come From?

In between many screenings at the Film Festival, I took the opportunity to write up the TTC’s Capital Budget presentation from August 30.  The information here is a combination of the TTC staff presentation, remarks by Ted Tyndorf, Chief Planner for Toronto, and my own opinions.  This is intended mainly as a view of the most recent TTC thoughts on the subject. 

Here are the high points:

  • Expenditures on transit have been deferred over and over again, with most big-ticket attention going to a handful of subway lines.  This is not sustainable.
  • Population and ridership growth is happening faster than predicted, and significant investment in new and improved service is essential.
  • The goals of the Official Plan and Building a Transit City are not worth a penny if we are not going to invest in transit.
  • The TTC budget projections push some projects further into the future than is reasonable if we are going to lead population growth with transit, for example, the Transit First policy for the eastern waterfront. 
  • There is no provision for many new lines including the proposed LRT/BRT network in Scarborough or anything in the Don Mills corridor.

I will take up the issue of where we should go next with transit planning in a future post, likely over the weekend.  Meanwhile, the gory details. Continue reading →

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The RT and Scarborough’s Future

The Final Report of the Scarborough RT Strategic Plan came up for discussion nearly at the end of a very long Commission meeting on August 30.  This was preceded by a long presentation on the Capital Budget, approval of the Bombardier subway car order and a moving deputation by the wives of two workmen seriously injured by on-the-job carbon monoxide poisoning.  Lengthy debate was unlikely. Continue reading →

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Scarborough RT Final Report — Remarks for August 30, 2006

The following is the text of the deputation I will be presenting on August 30 at the TTC meeting.  Note that the length and complexity are dictated by the context of public deputations with a finite limit on both time and attention by the Commission.

The text of this presentation has been edited to indicate changes made when it was delivered. 

Continue reading →

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SRT Final Report — RT Or LRT?

The SRT study is to be considered at the TTC meeting on August 30.  There are three documents in all:

I am not going to attempt to duplicate this material here and recommend that readers review the documents for detailed background to this issue. Continue reading →

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Streetcars for Scarborough?

Moments ago on the CBC, I listened to Councillor and TTC Commissioner Glenn De Baeremaeker talking about where transit should be going in Scarborough.  Next week, the Scarborough caucus of Toronto Council will ask the TTC to adopt a plan to build a network of streetcar lines in Scarborough rather than simply replacing the RT line’s existing equipment.

Reading between the lines of De Baeremaeker’s comments, TTC staff are recommending the lowest-cost option — new RT cars — rather than conversion to LRT as the basis for a Scarborough network.

Clearly, Scarborough Councillors want a network that will improve service throughout the east end of Toronto.  This is a big change from their former position asking for a subway replacement for the RT.  The contrast with the situation on the Spadina extension through York University to Vaughan is quite amazing.

In today’s Star, we learn that Vaughan’s Mayor Di Biase is confident that Ottawa will fund the subway as well as bus-only lanes and LRT in York Region.  Just imagine how much more LRT we could build if we didn’t insist on tthat $2-billion subway extension.

The tide may finally be turning for LRT in Scarborough, and I hope that the TTC will embrace this proposal.  Let’s see how much an LRT network would cost, what sort of service it can provide and how soon we can build it.

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Spadina Subway Financing

A report on the Policy and Finance Committee’s agenda for Tuesday, July 18 goes into the rather dry business of setting up a trustee for the Move Ontario Trust.  This creature will be used to hold the moneys contributed by various governments to the Spadina Subway project.

The current project cost estimate, all the way to Vaughan Corporate Centre Station, is $2.1-billion (2006).  To date, the Province has contributed $670-million, slightly less than one-third and with no provision for inflation, in the fund.  York Region’s share is yet to be determined, and everyone looks with hope on Ottawa for a matching contribution.  We shall see. Continue reading →

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Flights to Nowhere Revisited (Updated)

A staff response to the Commission’s queries about escalator reliability appears as item 35b in the agenda for the July 19th meeting.  You can read the report here.

The report proposes a system that will alert Collectors and the central escalator maintenance office at Ossington Station when a problem occurs.  The basic problem is that most units are not wired back to the Collector’s booth and the way station staff find out about stoppages is that someone complains.

I might be understanding about this situation at, say, King Station where the Melinda escalator, often stopped, is old and miles from the booth.  However, the guinea-pig station for this project is Bayview on the Sheppard line.  It’s so nice to learn that our $1-billion bought us some tolerably interesting architecture, but no system to alert staff when an escalator is stopped.

Assuming the trial at Bayview is successful, all escalators and elevators on the Sheppard line will be hooked up by the end of 2010, and the rest of the network will follow by 2012.  Then, finally, mechanics can be dispatched to the scene.

Maybe while they’re putting in all of the new communications gear for this project and station security upgrades, they can snap a photo of all those teenagers who are alleged to be stopping the escalators.  Run mug shots on the platform video screens.  Catch those villains!

Meanwhile, the report is silent on the simple question of why route supervisors at major stations like Kennedy or Finch don’t report escalator problems and, where possible, deal with them as a basic part of their job.

My original post on this subject follows below. Continue reading →