Sunday, January 29, 2012

Toronto's Transit Woes

There is a lot of talk in the media regarding the future of Toronto's transportation woes.  The same questions are repeatedly being asked - should it be Transit City?  Should it be subways?  Should it be perhaps be a hybrid of both plans?  Should we focus on new highways and more lanes?

These questions have already wasted at least one year since Mayor Rob Ford's induction into city office.  His victory was immediately followed by the 'cancellation' of former mayor David Miller and former TTC chair Adam Giambrone's Transit City plan, which would have brought multiple light rail transit lines and much-improved bus service to critical city corridors.  This was later followed by a memorandum of understanding between the mayor and the Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, which supposedly ensures that the money earmarked for Transit City was now put towards a fully-underground Eglinton-Crosstown line, merged with the existing Scarborough RT line.

First, let's look at the original Transit City plan.  This would have brought lines to Finch Avenue West, Sheppard Avenue East, Jane Street, Don Mills Road, Eglinton Ave.West and East, Waterfront West, and Malvern, as well as an extensive reworking of the existing Scarborough RT.  Due to funding constraints, this was later reduced to multiple stages, with the priority on the Scarborough RT, Finch, Sheppard and Eglinton. The original initiative was spearheaded by the TTC prior to Metrolinx' Big Move plan, which later took over the Transit City plan and forced a change to standard rail gauge to 'ensure compatibility' with future LRT systems - though I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with having an extensive LRT network set to TTC gauge.  The plan would have also brought expanded express bus service, improved service on shorter corridors, and new express bus routes, such as on route 43 Kennedy, shortly after commissioning the new LRT lines. 

Fast forwarding to the future, the Ford plan has severely damaged Metrolinx' transit planning, and has forced the retooling of the entire Big Move plan.  The original Ford plan called for an extension of the Sheppard subway to Scarborough Centre, the decommissioning of the Scarborough RT, and an extension of the Bloor-Danforth line also to Scarborough Centre.  This was later changed in the memorandum to forgo the Danforth extension, but merged the Eglinton and Scarborough RT lines to be completely underground (save the SRT alignment), essentially acting as Bloor relief line.  This completely ignores one of the points of Transit City, which was for street revitalization to induce local travel over long-distance travel.

Road capacity increase through more lanes and highways will most certainly fail, as it induces demand and the new capacity is soon overwhelmed by more cars - and we are back at square one.

This was an extremely poor decision in retrospect.  For example, let's look at the downstream effects of the new Eglinton line.  The demand for the line has increased due to the new utter convenience and removed transfer at Kennedy station for downtown commuters.  However, it introduces a new problem at Eglinton station on the Yonge subway, which will become a bottleneck station and remove any sort of line capacity south of the station.  Currently, the Yonge subway travels during AM rush with full loads by Lawrence station (a self-observation over two years of commuting), and we want to pile more people onto these trains without any sort of improvement.  The Toronto Rockets supposedly boast about a 10% increase in capacity per train, but this is an end-of-pipe approach that will soon be overwhelmed. 

Transit City is not without its own problems, as it takes a long time for streets with new LRT lines to recover and become living streets.  However, the fact that it allows for more local travel will allow city planners to build more livable neighbourhoods over time, instead of small nodes with purely residential high-rises (for examples, look at any development around the Sheppard line.  These are terribly disconnected from each other.)  The pro-car individual may say that the LRT will interfere with traffic.  Yes, it does.  But what makes one think that a car is any more entitled to road space than transit?  The transit modal share is on the increase, and it only makes sense to invest more and more into transit.  However, to believe that sparse suburban developments even deserve subways is laughable.  You certainly get what you pay for.

But probably the most ridiculous thing about this entire transportation fiasco is the role that GO Transit plays.  GO Transit has so much unused capacity as it enters the City of Toronto borders that it probably would be able to take care of much of the transit demand that is currently being taken care of by subways.

Personally, I believe we need to have a combination of multiple transportation services, which can provide relief at most points of the city.  I have outlined a (very conceptual) plan for transportation revitalization, and it is critical it address the growing needs of the entire Greater Toronto Area.

Many of the things outlined happen in parallel.
  1. There are multiple parts to the first step:
    • Introduce the PRESTO smartcard for the TTC system, and instil a new fare-by-distance fare policy based on distance triangulation in all GTA local transit systems (YRT, MiWay, TTC, etc.) that is competitively priced, but slightly cheaper than GO Transit.  This will lead people to question whether the slightly higher price for GO is worth the faster commute.  It will provide an equilibrium in commuters between GO Transit and TTC.  The fare system will require tweaking, and could include more expensive fares for using subways over buses, etc.
    • Begin double tracking and electrification on GO train corridors, and increase station density within City of Toronto borders.  This will attract TTC bus commuters and increase ridership along the GO corridor.
    • Introduce train frequency and optimize the existing network, such as improved signalling and automated transit on subways, through intelligent transportation systems to ensure trains keep moving people. 
    • Fight for government  subsidy to keep transit running, and declare all public transit an essential service.  It is ridiculous to forbid people from travel during a transit labour strike as it penalizes people based on their modal choice.
    • Continue design on rapid transit routes that will be the focus for future urban developments.  For example, continue working on local rapid transit systems in Brampton, Durham Region, Mississauga and York Region, as well as select corridors in Toronto.  This will be a very difficult step to traverse as all four of these areas are overall fairly low density, and transit will not be able to reach every single household.
  2. There are also multiple parts to the second step.
    • Introduce new service on the newly electrified and double-tracked GO corridors.  Include scheduled short turns at Toronto borders, or further if needed, to ensure line capacity.  This also requires the procurement of new trains.  I personally think new trains should be similar to a subway fleet, as in Germany's many S-Bahn systems or like the PATH system in New York/New Jersey, though it seems far more likely to have electric multiple units capable of pulling GO's bi-level passenger cars.
    • Design and build new underground stations for GO services along King St or Queen St to reduce demand at Union station, and increase transit use downtown.  Note that this will require precise signalling, as it'd probably interline multiple lines.
    • Begin construction/revitalization of essential local rapid transit lines, such as the Eglinton line and Scarborough RT line.
    • Finish the Sheppard subway.  It's unfortunate I have to say this one, but past political regimes forced this to happen sometime.  Ridiculous that politicians frequently consider 'leaving their mark' through construction over good planning.
  3. Increase density in identified corridors for revitalization, and ensure that they have a good mix of residential and commercial.  Emphasize local travel over distant travel, and reduce train service as more and more people live, work and play in the same area.
Parallel to all these steps is adjusting local transit service and increased maintenance on existing lines to ensure its capability to safely carry people.

Again, this plan is highly conceptual, and I probably missed some things.  Regardless, it recognizes the necessity of GO Transit that it seems to be avoiding.  To the keen planner, you may have noticed I completely ignored the proposal for a Downtown Relief Line.

The most important thing to take from this is that we must recognize that the car is a great end-of-pipe approach and begin to build our cities for people again.  Take a look at the downtown area in Toronto and witness the sheer amount of people enjoying life.  Then take a look at any suburban area and look at what could've been.

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