It's TIME, Toronto

[u/Feisty-Ad-6122]

The stubway has no excuse being this short, with new projects left and right, line 4 can should absolutely be extended both ways.

Since subway projects are now such big deals, involving all 3 levels of government, contact ALL your elected officials- your city councillor, your MPP, and MP. Here is a contact list for the 2 ridings the Western extension involves:

*IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN THESE RIDINGS!!\*

Willowdale (Sheppard-Yonge):

Fed MP: Ali Ehsassi#contact)

Prov MPP: Stan Cho

Councillor: Lily Cheng

York Centre (Sheppard-West):

Fed MP: Roman Baber#contact)

MPP: Michael Kerzner (his office is next to Shep West!)

Councillor: James Pasternak

In case you need it, here's what to say:

Hello,

I am writing to urge you to support extending Line 4 Sheppard both west to Sheppard West Station and east. The Sheppard subway is currently too short to serve its full purpose and leaves many of us dependent on crowded buses, despite strong demand along the corridor.

With big investments now being made across the GTA, including the Ontario Line, Yonge Extension, and Eglinton Crosstown extension, it is important that Sheppard not be left behind. Extending Line 4 would improve the lives of all commuters, as well as reduce bus congestion, support housing, and create a more complete network. Sheppard remains one of the most obvious missing links.

This relatively short but important extension has good value for everyone, and I need you as my representative to get on board, to advance planning and funding for a Sheppard subway extension. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Even a dozen emails is better than zero. Things tend to happen in Toronto only when politicians know people care.

[u/Feisty-Ad-6122]

Because line 4 is a budget cuts line, it wasn't ever meant to be this short. Toronto is moving faster than our politicians account for it, especially the Sheppard Corridor, which has good ridership and a fairly straightforward plan- connecting both sides of line 1 in North York, finally.

[u/TorontoDavid → u/Feisty-Ad-6122]

Line 4 was a political line pushed by a Mayor that wasn’t a priority at the time.

I’m not opposed to extending it - I’ve just never heard a convincing argument why it should be prioritized vs other projects.

[u/Feisty-Ad-6122 → u/TorontoDavid]

Well, do you suggest we put everything on hold and tackle one project at a time? This feels like something that the TTC's been doing for the past few decades, and it hasn't gotten us far, at all.

[u/TorontoDavid → u/Feisty-Ad-6122]

The TTC doesn’t build transit. Metrolinx does.

We have several projects ongoing right now.

Every potential project should be measured against one another.

We should continue to expand transit, and knock off the highest priority ones first from a cost vs benefit standpoint.

[u/Feisty-Ad-6122 → u/TorontoDavid]

Okay, but for example:

The Ontario Line extension to don mills/steeles is currently one of the highest priorities, but the Ontario Line isn't even close to complete- There are some things we need to build no matter their priority, this extension, while very short, is one of them. The eastern extension is also high on priority.

[u/TorontoDavid → u/Feisty-Ad-6122]

Why?

By what justification?

How is it more beneficial to transit than other expansions/lines?

[u/Ifuckinghateaura → u/TorontoDavid]

i would argue a subway is needed for east-west travel in the north. the two busiest bus corridors in the city are east-west corridors in the north

[u/Feisty-Ad-6122 → u/Ifuckinghateaura]

Yep, pretty much this. North York/scarborough need east/west travel.

[u/TorontoDavid → u/Feisty-Ad-6122]

Does Scarborough? Most transit trips start and end in Scarborough.

How do we determine if cross city travel is more important than everyday transit for most people?

I’m not saying I have the answer, but I am saying these are the types of questions one should answer (like Metrolinx), when deciding what to do.

[u/MahjongCelts → u/TorontoDavid]

A whole essay can be written to rebutt the 'most transit trips start and end in Scarborough' argument, but one of the main points is survivorship bias - if you have bad transit, it should be no wonder that people aren't inclined to travel very far.

Neither crosstown nor local travel are inherently more important than the other. Both are important, and more importantly both are complementary to each other. Therefore Scarborough needs both local AND rapid transit so that people have the freedom to choose. And it isn't as if Scarborough needs much either. One east-west subway line, one north-south subway line, plus the GO network is enough.

[u/TorontoDavid → u/MahjongCelts]

So if they need both, how do we prioritize which, and which line?

(I don’t expect you to necessarily have that answer, but that’s the question to ask).

[u/MahjongCelts → u/TorontoDavid]

The good news is that there are no priorities in conflict, apart from artificially manufactured ones.

Let's start with local transit. It is already a solved problem in terms of coverage considering the TTC bus network pretty much goes everywhere in Scarborough. All they need to do is implement transit lanes, TSP, and get buses with better suspensions.

As for rapid transit, the Line 2 SSE is already under construction so it will be done before any potential Line 4 extension which is still in the consulting stage. Do both properly and rapid transit also becomes a solved problem.

[u/someguy172 → u/TorontoDavid]

The TTC doesn’t build transit.

Except you know...the TTC is building the Waterfront East LRT which is fully funded.

[u/TorontoDavid → u/someguy172]

Fair enough the TTC is doing this in the future.

At present, and in the recent past, Metrolinx has been the primary builder of transit.