Subways

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A Question of Density, Indeed

My thanks to Greg Mckhool for reminding me that I needed to write something about this:

There is a misleading comment in the Dr. Gridlock column of today’s (Apr. 3) Globe and Mail by the TTC’s Tom Middlebrook that needs to be highlighted.

He tries to justify extending the subway to Vaughan’s “field of dreams” by saying that Toronto’s downtown didn’t look like it does today when the Yonge subway was built.  Technically that’s true, but there certainly was a downtown there, and transit ridership along Yonge was substantial. He should know better…

You can find Jeff Gray’s column (Dr. Gridlock) here. Continue reading →

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Density and Subway Construction

Two recent press items caught my eye:

  • In today’s Globe & Mail, we have an article about residents of Sheppard Avenue who are astounded to find that high density, high rise development is coming to their neighbourhoods.  This development is a direct consequence of the Sheppard Subway line and, indeed, that line’s existence was cited by the Ontario Municipal Board as a reason that the developments should be approved.  Click here.
  • In Thursday’s Metro, Ed Drass reports rather astounding, if sensible, statements attributed to Rick Ducharme, Chief General Manager of the TTC.  Ducharme feels that if the Spadina extension is going to be like Sheppard, without significant, high density development, then it should not be built.  Click here.

Continue reading →

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Subway Art: Watercolours by Sigmund Augustus Serafin

Many years ago, the TTC was cleaning house at 1900 Yonge and a lot of old stuff was heading to the garbage can.  The combined efforts of various fans saved some material that would otherwise have been lost thanks to Ted Wickson, now retired from the TTC, who alerted people to what was happening.

I took custody of eight watercolours of proposed station designs for the University and Bloor-Danforth subway lines painted in 1957 and 1958 by Serafin.  Recently, for the Bloor subway’s 40th birthday, I brought them out of storage and was amazed at their excellent condition.

James Bow’s site at Transit Toronto has many galleries, and it seemed a more appropriate location to display the paintings than here.  If you want to see them, follow this link to Transit Toronto.

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Why Was The Bloor Subway So Successful?

Regular readers will know that my opinion of the Sheppard and York U subways is less than complimentary.  Recently, I received a note comparing the length of the Danforth subway to the Sheppard line and asking whether Sheppard, were it the same length, would be any more successful.

The reply will come in two installments.  The first one, linked below, takes us up to 1966 when the original Bloor-Danforth line opened and the Danforth leg (only to Woodbine) was roughly the same length as the Sheppard subway.  The BD line carried far more people from day one than the Sheppard line does now or the York U line is projected to carry in 2021.  Moreover, the BD line grew very substantially from its extensions to Warden and Islington a few years after the line opened.

In the first installment I also review the level of transit service that operated in the Bloor-Danforth corridor before the subway opened.  There is no surface route in Toronto today that compares with the Bloor-Danforth streetcar service of 42 2-car trains per hour.

Bloor Danforth Success Story

In the second installment, I will look at the riding growth due to the extensions as well as the original projections for the Sheppard line.  That version will come within a week.

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Build Subways! Cut Service! The Wisdom of Commissioner Li Preti

A few nights ago, Councillor Peter Li Preti, also a transit Commissioner, was on Adam Vaughan’s show on CP24 debating the merits of the York University subway with Gord Perks from the Toronto Environmental Alliance.

The line will go right through the middle of Councillor Li Preti’s ward, and he has stalwartly defended this project at the TTC.  The question came up, how do we pay for this?

Well, the TTC has a bunch of bloated, poor-performing routes, says the transit Commissioner, we’ll just have to cut service on them.  Yes, that’s right, cut service to pay for Peter’s subway.

Let’s take him at his word and see what would happen. Continue reading →