SmartTrack could cut some TTC commutes

The TTC says that Mayor John Tory's transit plan could save time for commuters in the city's northeast end.

Thestar.com
Oct. 20, 2015
By Tess Kalinowski

SmartTrack would cut some downtown commute times from Toronto’s transit-starved northeast suburbs by up to 24 per cent, according to TTC estimates.

If a rider at Sheppard Ave. East and Neilson Rd. used SmartTrack to reach Union Station, it would shave about 18 minutes from the current 78-minute TTC journey time.

It would also trim nine minutes off the TTC trip from Lawrence Ave. East and Scarborough Golf Club Rd. to Union Station, according to TTC deputy CEO Chris Upfold.

In both cases, riders would need to transfer only once rather than two or three times.

That’s the benefit of integrated transit, Upfold said. The same time savings could be achieved on GO Transit today.

“It’s just that GO service isn’t attractive enough from a frequency or price perspective to attract those kinds of trips,” he said.

Upfold was on a staff team presenting a SmartTrack update to the city’s executive committee on Tuesday.

But with no ridership projections or details on how Mayor John Tory’s signature transit plan would be distinguished from GO’s electrified regional express rail (RER), some councillors expressed doubts about how heavily the city should be investing in the $8-billion SmartTrack.

It proposes using the Stouffville and Kitchener GO tracks to connect the job hubs in Markham and the Mississsauga Airport Corporate Centre through Union Station. The plan includes new stops in Toronto and a track to the airport area, either along Eglinton Ave. west of Mount Dennis or north of the Kitchener GO line.

SmartTrack ridership forecasts will be released in the new year and have been delayed by the development of a new model being created in conjunction with the University of Toronto, said deputy city manager John Livey.

With GO carrying only 12 per cent of transit trips in Toronto, Councillor Gord Perks said, the next SmartTrack update needs to explain the city’s interest.

“That’s 1.5 per cent of the transit trips in the city on this existing network. If we’re about to spend all our transit money and time to move up to 3 or 4 per cent, we’re misspending,” he said.

“I have no interest in spending the city’s money on regional trips to the Mississauga Airport Corporate Centre or Markham,” Perks said.

How much it costs to ride SmartTrack will play a role in how many riders it attracts, Livey said. “Obviously a TTC fare would maximize the use.”

Tory cautioned councillors against playing the role of “Douglas and Debbie Downer.” He defended the ongoing study of SmartTrack as a chance for experts to flesh out an idea that was a key plank of his election campaign.

“We have worked continuously and extensively with Metrolinx in order to ensure the orderly development of SmartTrack within the context of RER. There is no question the two are related,” said Tory.

Saturday’s Toronto Star reported that provincial agency Metrolinx sent a letter to the city stating that two parallel train services on the GO tracks would be “unaffordable and unworkable.”