Scarborough's busway is behind schedule and $12M over budget, leaving some residents feeling overlooked

'It's just lack of prioritization for transit in Scarborough,' says Toronto Youth Cabinet transit lead

CBC.ca
Jan. 26, 2024
Lane Harrison

Construction of the much anticipated busway that will replace the decommissioned Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) line won't begin until at least 2025 and will cost $12.2 million more than originally expected -- frustrating residents who feel the area doesn't receive enough transit investment.

The updated construction start date and cost of the busway will be presented to the Toronto Transit Commission board Thursday.

When the idea to turn the SRT into a busway was first approved by the TTC board in April 2022, a staff report said construction could begin in 2023 and finish up to two years later. While design is 60 per cent complete, the money to fund it remains in question. The city is asking the province to pay for the $67.9-million project, but negotiations won't conclude until June 2024.

Finding funding and building the busway is particularly important to students at the "commuter campus" of University of Toronto Scarborough, says student union vice-president and life-long Scarborough resident Khadidja Roble.

"We have been disappointed time and time again. And now is the time to showcase that Scarborough is a priority to Toronto, as well as to the provincial government," Roble said. "I hope that before I'm old and grey, I get to take the subway, and I [don't have] to utilize my car or Lyft or Uber to travel in the city that I love so much."

Roble says students who used to use the SRT are now stuck on shuttle buses. The city has implemented bus-only lanes to speed things up, but the report being presented Thursday says a busway would provide faster and more reliable service.

Mayor Olivia Chow promised to create a dedicated Scarborough busway during her May byelection campaign.

The busway, which would be a conversion of the SRT into a bus right-of-way, is expected to take two years to complete, making the best-case scenario opening date 2027.

The right-of-way will run along the existing SRT infrastructure and result in a travel time that is 10 minutes quicker than the temporary priority bus lane service operating now, according to a report presented to the TTC board in April 2022. That travel time estimate is still five minutes slower than an SRT trip, however.

The Scarborough Subway Extension will eventually replace the line, but that won't open until at least 2030.

According to the report prepared for the TTC board, the bulk of the cost increases can be attributed to construction, to a tune of $8.3 million. About half of that is to pay for additional barriers separating a GO Transit track from the busway, it was previously assumed an existing chain link fence would remain in place. Other cost increases are due to additional materials needed for guardrails and handrails, plus concrete masonry, earth work, signage and pavement markings.

Transportation experts who spoke to CBC Toronto say it's not unexpected for a project like the busway replacement to take time, given the number of studies and requirements necessary to implement it safely. Cost increases are also not unusual as a project goes through the design process, but increases this big are cause for concern, they say -- especially when a project still doesn't have money behind it.

In a statement, Chow's office says she wants safe, affordable and reliable transit in Scarborough and Torontonians can make their transit needs known as part of the city's budget consultation process.

A spokesperson for Ontario's ministry of transportation says the city is responsible for all aspects of the SRT. They also pointed to $70 billion in provincial spending over the next 10 years to build new transit, including the subway extension in Scarborough.

'Something that can affect your quality of life'
Ignacio Tiznado-Aitken, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of human geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough, worries a lack of secure funding could lead to more delays.

According to the 2021 census, around 27 per cent of people in Scarborough use public transit as their primary means of transportation.

"[For them] it's the only chance to really move around long distances in a convenient way. And if you don't have... reliable service or frequent service, it's something that can affect your quality of life for sure," said Tiznado-Aitken.

Shaila Jamal, a research coordinator with the University of Toronto Scarborough's Suburban Mobilities Cluster, says if people remain frustrated with service until the busway is built, they may decide to move or become car dependent.

"It seems like might be really good when it is fully functioning. But right now, I think people who are dependent on that route, obviously, they're pretty frustrated," Jamal said.

Reliable transit needed to attract riders: advocate
Zain Khuram, transit lead for the Toronto Youth Cabinet, the city's official youth advisory body, is worried kids growing up in Scarborough like he did won't want to use transit if it remains as it is now.

As a kid, he says transit gave him the independence to get to school, his first job or the mall with friends. 

Given shovels won't be in the ground until at least 2025, he says he feels like transit in the area is getting worse, not better.

"It's disappointing to see because it's just lack of prioritization for transit in Scarborough," he said.

"We want to bring [young people] to transit and make lifelong transit riders," he said. "We have to create a system that's actually attractive, and that's by bringing the busway, for instance."

In an email, the TTC said its plans offer "frequent and reliable" options for riders, including between Kennedy and Scarborough Centre.

"We understand the frustration, but the SRT was unreliable and needed to be replaced," said TTC spokesperson Stuart Green.