Our transit future: Subways vs. LRT
Re Ford trounced in transit vote, Feb. 9 Here’s a novel idea. Why not let the people who will be impacted most by Wednesday’s vote to put transit above ground make the decision and put it to a referendum? I live in Scarborough and Eglinton is already a mess without losing a lane of traffic, not to mention all the left-turn restrictions and threephase traffic signals inherent in aboveground transit. We know that LRTS are slower than subways but wait until you see what they will do to traffic on Eglinton. My guess is that if council actually asked the question of Scarborough residents who will be impacted by this new transit line, it will find that Mayor Rob Ford and most Scarborough councillors got this one right. Chris Churchill, Scarborough Hooray for democracy! Subways avoid weather but have technical and human-related delays daily. Sometimes surface routes are faster. Dedicated light-rail lines are found all over Europe — efficient, quicker, move more people faster and have construction economies.
Has the mayor driven on Eglinton immediately east of Laird where burying transit would waste precious funds? Is he familiar with traffic on Finch West where present bus congestion is beyond tolerance? Is he aware that burgeoning Finch West development puts more pressure on existing public transit?
Using available funds to address increasing needs for city-wide transit acquires more for less, and sooner. Congratulations to those councillors who stood up for the public good. D.S. Abramowitz, Toronto Since it is obvious that the mayor has no intention of proceeding with the recommendation of city council regarding the new transportation plan, Toronto could be in for a stalemate. Who is going to work with Metrolinx? Who is going to meet with the Liberal government to sign all the necessary legal documents and budgets? Mayor Rob Ford will just sit back and do nothing. Who will speak for Toronto?
It is extremely difficult for the city to proceed on any development without the mayor’s involvement. Because of Ford’s obstinacy and lack of respect for democratic decisions, the council is faced with conducting the city’s new transportation plan without a recognized legal structure.
A new form of conducting business at city hall is needed and it is needed now. David Gladstone, Toronto I am astounded by the opinions of those who keep insisting on the Transit City light-rail project, which in my view is a complete disaster.
I live and work in the area between St. Clair Ave. West and Eglinton Ave. West and on a daily basis suffer the consequences of the short-sighted decision by the previous city hall administration to build up the St. Clair West streetcar passage — traffic congestion, lack of any space to manoeuvre a car and as a result, unsafe driving conditions and numerous accidents.
My fellow area residents and business owners share my frustration. Please, do not repeat the same mistake in other parts of Toronto by installing light-rail systems on already narrow roads.
Subways are a safe, fast and efficient way to transport the city’s population and encourage city development.
Let’s move this great city of ours toward a better future and implement Rob Ford’s vision. Mark Lannard, Toronto It is so tiring to hear the mayor’s single-tracked mantra “the people want subways.” His main election platform, as we well recall, was to “stop the gravy train” and we know how well that’s going. He cancelled Transit City within days of inauguration and we’ve lost more than a year already. Now he rejects city council’s decision and stubbornly sticks to his plan.
The ideal transit plan is the one that best uses the available money to upgrade service for the most transit users, not just along one subway corridor.
Mayor Rob Ford should see the bigger picture, concede to council’s majority vote, and champion transit service improvement for all. Eugene Bolvary, Toronto As much as I hate to agree with most anything Mayor Rob Ford says, I believe this time he is right. Subways are the proper solution to Toronto’s current and future traffic gridlock problems. Ten years (or less) from now when the mayor’s plan will have to be implemented at quadruple the current cost he will have every right to be saying, “I told you so.”
Perce Mossop, Richmond Hill “Technically speaking, that whole meeting was irrelevant,” Rob Ford said. No, Mr. Mayor, “technically speaking” when your ideas (or lack thereof ) are defeated by a council vote, that means that your so-called “transit plan” (or lack thereof ) has been rendered “irrelevant.” It means your ideas have been rejected and council has chosen another plan. Deal with it.
Christian Fletcher, Scarborough Rob Ford would have appeared much classier and more businesslike had he stepped to the microphone and announced, “I accept the vote from council.” Instead he and brother Doug spouted a childish rant that showed how unprofessional they have proven themselves to be. The only thing to complete the fracas would have been for Rob to take his football and go home.
Joy Taylor, Scarborough Speaking of “irrelevance,” Mayor Rob Ford took a ride at 1 a.m. on the Scarborough RT to talk about his subway plans to the few people who take public transit at that time (and are even awake). Perhaps it would have been more educational if he had taken an overcrowded streetcar or bus at the height of rush hour (after a half-hour wait) and experienced the discomfort and frustration most TTC riders have to deal with on a daily basis.
Andrea Valentini, Toronto Myths about light rail need to be squelched. First, in all of the light-rail plans for Eglinton Ave., the congested part is underground. Second, many people equate light rail with the existing streetcars through downtown Toronto. You can’t compare modern vehicles cruising along a dedicated right-of-way with a crawling streetcar at Dundas and Bay. New light-rail projects around the world are fast and efficient, and Toronto’s new light rail would be no exception. Finally, there is an added benefit to light rail. If you ride the subway, your view of the city is a long, dark tunnel. Light rail brings commuters into the city fabric. Jason Shron, President, Rapido Trains Inc., Concord The notion of anything other than a subway line along either Eglinton or Sheppard is short-sighted. Imagine if our forefathers had not been visionary in the selection of the current subway system. After all, there was a streetcar track there. Likewise there was a streetcar line along Bloor St. and the Danforth. Enhancing those streetcar tracks, as was done on St. Clair, would have created an unending mess.
Previous administrations dropped the ball on this issue decades ago. We should have been developing 50 metres of new subway line each and every day since the last project was completed. Paul Macmillan, Toronto In the debate about the future of Toronto’s transit, why is the electric trolley bus not being considered? It has many merits. It uses existing roadway like bus lanes and creating them costs a fraction of the cost and resources of laying steel tracks. Paint is cheaper than steel.
It does not have the inflexibility of streetcars — in a breakdown it just pulls down its pickup arms and can be towed away — nothing like the backups caused by a stopped streetcar.
Overhead pickup lines are easily installed and maintained allowing route switching easily, plus diesel buses can be retrofitted at moderate cost. Percy Barber, Unionville Toronto constantly bleats about being a world-class city but the last time I checked, all world-class cities have extensive subways, Paris, London, Berlin, Moscow, Madrid, etc. In fact, the subway maps of Paris and London look more like a street map of Toronto. So let’s get the subway system extended. It’s never going to get less expensive and I don’t believe we can’t find the money for this kind of project. David R. Filbey-haywood, Pickering Do not bury the LRT. We cannot afford the mayor’s subway plan in dollars or time. What a waste of a year when we had a perfectly feasible plan with Transit City where we get the biggest bang for the buck. I totally support Karen Stintz’s alternative plan. Diana Bartlett, Toronto
“Subways are the proper solution to Toronto’s current and future traffic gridlock problems.” PERCE MOSSOP RICHMOND HILL “The ideal transit plan is the one that best uses the available money to upgrade service for the most transit users.” EUGENE BOLVARY TORONTO