Oh Dear, the Scarborough R/T Replacement Again
Interesting news from Toronto, with the ongoing debate over the replacement of the Scarborough R/T.
One would think our Toronto cousins believe that money grows on trees, wanting a a $3 billion, three stop subway line instead of a more convenient $1.8 billion seven stop LRT line.
What I find so sad is the absolute absence of the European LRT Renaissance and instead, following the American practice of designing LRT as a very expensive light metro.
I wonder, like BC, what schools and hospitals will be closed to fund hugely expensive subway dreams?
Many want another look at Scarborough subway: poll
A firm majority ai??i?? 61 per cent ai??i?? want a downtown relief line before the Scarborough extension, a Forum phone poll has founds.
MARCUS OLENIUK / TORONTO STARAi??Order this photo
What will replace the aging Scarborough RT? A subway or an LRT? The answer still divides the city,a new Forum poll suggests.
By:Ai??Tess KalinowskiAi??Transportation reporter,Ai??Published on Wed Aug 05 2015
Mayor John ToryAi??(open John Tory’s policard)Ai??and Premier Kathleen Wynne have said theAi??matter is closed. But nearly half of Torontonians think city council should reopen the hot-button Scarborough subway debate, according to the latestAi??Forum Researchpoll.
Forty-eight per cent said they would like council to reconsider its approval of a $3-billion, three-stop subway extension from Kennedy Station over the abandoned plan, which promised a $1.8-billion, seven-stop LRT.
Thirty-four per cent donai??i??t want the topic reopened, the poll found, while nearly one in five respondents said they didnai??i??t know whether it should be discussed again.
Public opinion likely wonai??i??t be enough to persuade council to reconsider its position, said Forum president Lorne Bozinoff.
The public has had time to think about other transit projects that havenai??i??t achieved their ridership projections, including the Sheppard subway, he said. But ai???itai??i??s a done deal politically for Tory and Wynne. Even if they donai??i??t like it, theyai??i??ve got to go with it now.ai???
The appetite for reopening theAi??Scarborough transit debateAi??is somewhat surprising given that the public is anxious for results, he said.
ai???John Tory, to his credit, has really been pushing these achievements. He was talking about the (completed) island airport tunnel. There is real hunger for getting things done, and heai??i??s reflecting that,ai??? said Bozinoff.
The poll also shows that voters are split on whether a subway or LRT would best serve Scarborough. Forty-four per cent favour the subway, while 39 per cent like the LRT.
A majority of the respondents ai??i?? 61 per cent ai??i?? believe that the downtown relief line should be built ahead of the Scarborough subway extension. Overall only 28 per cent want the Scarborough line built first.
Among Scarborough residents, however, only 35 per cent considered the relief line the priority, compared to 74 per cent of downtowners who want that relief line built first.
On another transit front, ForumAi??found most TorontoniansAi??ai??i?? 70 per cent ai??i?? think the new airport train from Union Station should operate as part of the TTC with lower fares and more stops.
ai???In Metrolinxai??i??s mind this is like a business service, a premium service. But I donai??i??t think thatai??i??s how some people are perceiving it,ai??? he said.
The idea has spread that theAi??Union Pearson ExpressAi??(UPX) should be part of the TTC, said Bozinoff.
Forum also found that dissatisfaction with UPX fares is on the rise again, with 68 per cent saying the costai??i??s too high. An April poll on the topic had suggested that the sticker shock of the regular $27 one-way fare was fading. Then only 58 per cent of residents thought the train was too costly, down from 69 per cent in Dec.
Asked what would be an appropriate one-way fare for a TTC express commuter service on the UPX and 64 per cent of respondents said between $5 and $14. Thirteen per cent said the fare should be less than $5 and 17 per cent suggested $15 to $19 would be a fair price.
Only 25 per cent thought it was priced right already. Nine per cent of residents said they had already tried the new service, which opened in June; the uptake was about the same across the city and across most income groups.
Among those who havenai??i??t used the train, 58 per cent said they were not very likely or not at all likely to try it. Only 39 per cent said they were likely or somewhat likely to ride.
Forum Research polled 892 Toronto residents last Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 1-2) using an interactive voice response telephone survey that is considered accurate within 3 per cent 19 times out of 20.
