Is this the future of Toronto transit?

torontosun.com
Feb. 25, 2016
By Maryam Shah

Could this be Toronto’s transit map in 15 years?

City chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat gave the TTC commission a look at what Toronto’s transit system could look like in 15 years.

“These are projects that, from a city-building and ridership perspective, we in fact require as a city,” she said.

The map could change. Both the commission and city council will debate the transit master plan next month.

TTC chair Josh Colle said he would like to know the immediate operational impacts of any new lines.

“I think they should all be built,” he said. “But if a new line is built, that immediately puts a cost pressure on the TTC that we often don’t recognize.”

There’s no definitive price tag on this vision yet.

When asked how he expects a transit-hungry public to react to yet another map with gleaming new lines on it, Colle said maps like these can be powerful but also dangerous.

“Sometimes people react badly to it because they get too parochial about their view of things,” he explained. “But I think it’s good to work towards having a more comprehensive plan, one that sets priorities, has some criteria for what gets built when, and that’s the beginning of this effort and so that’s a good thing.”

What’s on the map for the next six years:

• Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension, connecting Toronto to York University and Vaughan Centre.
• Eglinton Crosstown LRT, between Kennedy and Mt. Dennis.
• Finch LRT, between Finch West and Humber College.
• King Transit Priority Corridor.

What city planners recommend be built within the next 15 years:

• SmartTrack looping from north Scarborough to downtown then back up Mt. Dennis.
• Relief line, from Pape station to the downtown.
• Scarborough subway, connecting Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre.
• Crosstown East, from Kennedy to Morningside.
• Crosstown West, from Mt. Dennis to the airport.
• Waterfront LRT.
• Steeles LRT.
• Jane LRT, from Vaughan Centre to somewhere on the Bloor-Danforth line.
• Yonge subway extension from Finch to Richmond Hill.
• Sheppard RT, connecting Morningside to west of Agincourt.