Toronto transit planning lacks vision

Except for students, seniors and claustrophobes, the 97 Yonge bus is empty most of the week. But on Sunday mornings, it turns into a one-vehicle rush hour. Buses bursting with passengers speed through the darkened city, uncomfortable reminders of a transit system that remains stuck in an era when the Lord’s Day Act prevailed and the Sabbath was not a time to travel anywhere but church and back.

When the subway finally opens at 9 a.m., Sunday becomes like any other day, people move about, going to and from work at all hours. The TTC likes this late hour because it gives maintenance and construction crews a few clear hours to carry on their struggle to bring the network into the 21st century.

It doesn’t help that the subway was built without a third track. That leaves the TTC at a permanent disadvantage and ensures work delays will never be eliminated.

Interestingly, in anticipation of a subway that wouldn’t appear for more than half a century, the Bloor Viaduct, which opened in 1918, was designed with a lower second deck to accommodate a future metro. Clearly, Toronto hasn’t always shortchanged its future.

So it’s good news when Toronto Mayor John Tory talks about opening the subway an hour earlier on Sundays — 8 instead of 9 a.m. It’s not enough, but better than nothing. Sadly, though, the decision isn’t his to make; final word rests with the engineers: Will they have enough time to do what they must, or will passengers continue to wait?

Because the debate is focused on new facilities, the question of how to extract maximum benefit from what we already have gets overlooked. Despite improvements, huge gains are still to be had.

As the Sunday opening issue reminds us, the goal of transit planning must be to meet demand where it exists. Through everything, the most heavily used subway section is the original Yonge St. line. In rush hour, getting on can be impossible.

Increasing service helps a lot, but the big issue is adding capacity not riders. That means a commitment to the downtown relief line, moving people into the core from west and east. It also means the Queens Quay East LRT, which would take pressure off the hectic 504 King streetcar. It will also attract the thousands who already live and work on the waterfront as well as those to come.

The fact these proposals seem to have dropped off the civic agenda highlights the chasm between transit politics and transit reality, which in Toronto has grown scarily wide. If nothing else, starting the subway an hour earlier on Sunday represents a glimmer of awareness. Tory’s suggestion may be a nobrainer — the TTC was already on the case — but putting evidence first doesn’t come naturally or easily to local politicos.

Toronto made the transition from small town to big city long ago but remains ambivalent about its fate. Ironically, at the moment of its great urban flowering, post-amalgamation political priorities have shifted to the inner-suburbs, where transit is woefully inadequate. Today, attention is focused on places such as Scarborough, where nothing less than a subway will do.

At the same time, Brampton has turned down its portion ($300 million to $400 million) of an LRT that will run north through Mississauga. That money could be put to excellent use not just where it’s needed but where it’s wanted. Ask any Sunday morning bus rider. Christopher Hume can be reached at chume@thestar.ca.