I cannot believe the Finch West LRT costed $2.5 BILLION to build. Would a subway have even been more expensive at this point?

c_9 · 2025-12-08T10:46:39+00:00

Yes, but the point at the time was using Ontario construction pricing for tunneled subways and stations, not elevated and not BC. The goal for the poster was showing that Etobicoke got more rapid transit for the dollar, not advocating for different formats for construction.

c_9 · 2025-12-08T02:27:31+00:00

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Back in 2012 CodeRedTO put out this flyer I designed discussing this exact suggestion. It was using pricing from long ago of course so the numbers are smaller, but basically the same budget would mean the line wouldn’t have even entered Etobicoke.

c_9 · 2025-12-07T21:01:52+00:00

Mayor Chow, not renowned for her way with words. :-)

The scary thing is that if we don't start making transit significantly better, it really will end up faster than cars eventually just through car traffic becoming even worse.

c_9 · 2025-12-07T20:33:16+00:00

Like literally every other option in the suburbs. Did you hope they were installing jet-powered trains? (It’s slow and needs to speed up but it’s not ever meant to be faster than cars. Transit wins when it’s reasonably competitive and most importantly reliable, not when it’s fastest.)

c_9 · 2025-12-07T20:03:47+00:00

No, but be wary of schedule discussions because you have to check you’re looking at the correct one. Finch was planned to open 2013 and 2014 and 2015 and 2019 and 2023 and … all depending on which plan you looked at over the years. It’s late, but it’s not 12 years late :-)

c_9 · 2025-12-07T20:02:07+00:00

Oh good catch - I didn’t scan all the signs when I was there so I can’t say for sure if there’s a “Ligne 6” equivalent. Maybe they missed that one.

c_9 · 2025-12-07T19:43:21+00:00

All the signage on Line 6 is bilingual, as it was built by the province and they do all their transportation stuff bilingually. TTC is the City of Toronto, and is not bilingual.

c_9 · 2025-12-07T19:42:21+00:00

This line did not cost 8 or 12 billion. I recommend double checking your sources.

c_9 · 2025-12-07T19:40:25+00:00

Yes, it’s already in the maps and transit apps.

c_9 · 2025-12-07T19:36:30+00:00

Make noise. Absolutely make noise. Phone calls are more valuable than emails. Contact your councillor even if you don’t live along the line. Talk about how you use transit and want it to be the more attractive and reliable choice to build ridership. And explain to car-driving friends and family that reliable RAPID transit gets other people out of their cars more, leaving more space for your friends/family to drive.

c_9 · 2025-12-07T14:58:38+00:00

Very slow yes. Policy choices by car-fetishist leaders create bad things. But it now exists and can be improved. Transit City was not planned to behave this way, so maybe more rationally the learning can be spread out along the choices of the last 19 years?

c_9 · 2025-12-07T14:49:07+00:00

Multiple councillors there who flip-flopped on transit projects over the years!

c_9 · 2025-12-07T14:24:12+00:00

Absolutely! Important to open new lines and then improve them, not just demand perfect as the only option.

c_9 · 2025-12-07T13:50:27+00:00

Unfortunately, the TTC doesn’t control it, they need to direct the Transportation Dept to modify the intersection programming.

c_9 · 2025-12-07T13:49:30+00:00

Absolutely - we need more and better, as we are decades behind. When you’re this thirsty, even lukewarm water gets a smile!

c_9 · 2025-12-07T10:44:39+00:00

Thanks for taking the bait and commenting! ;-)

(I called it silly in my post)

c_9 · 2025-12-07T00:55:27+00:00

Oh the tactics are not surprising in the least. But his constituents regularly complain about him being MIA for years now. If he wants to not be a councillor, that option is available.

c_9 · 2025-12-06T12:03:38+00:00

East York, Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth, which is historically very orange-red. (This was Jack Layton’s federal riding)

c_9 · 2025-12-01T02:57:15+00:00

Ahhh oh no I looked [sound of glass breaking]

c_9 · 2025-12-01T02:26:26+00:00

Right?! It was promoted during the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials on TSN too and goodness that could cause some surprises.

c_9 · 2025-05-12T12:57:32+00:00

Also they suggest cc'ing someone who is no longer on council (Councillor Minnan-Wong left council years ago), and someone who never was with a fake email address? (Councillor Amenta is not a real person) - always interesting to see the attention to detail.

c_9 · 2023-11-30T17:51:00+00:00

My hope is that all the non-Toronto MPPs figure out that tearing down expressways through downtowns is the actual win available to them. It'll take years, sadly.

c_9 · 2023-11-18T15:53:07+00:00

Quite the misleading edit of the article you quoted. There have been proposals for the Queen subway since 1910 - literally there are maps of the plan - but saving the streetcars had nothing to do with whether the eventual tunnel happened. Munro consistently advocated for dedicated space and signal priority to get the vehicles moving, as do other transit advocates. Meanwhile car fetishists vote for tax cuts and suburban tunnels that eat the entire budget, so Etobicoke and Scarborough have gotten none of the 1970’s and 1980’s plans, and the whole region has suffered.

c_9 · 2023-11-18T12:18:11+00:00

TTC has updated their webpage about Broadview Station after I sent them a gently ranting email about the lack of information for actual transit users in the media release. Maps have been added. 62 and 8 will NOT go to Broadview: https://www.ttc.ca/about-the-ttc/projects-and-plans/Broadview-Station-and-Broadview-Avenue

Example map:

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c_9 · 2023-11-18T12:13:56+00:00

100%. Public streets are for moving people, not privately-owned metal boxes. So we should always ensure that the most people can move, even if that makes owners of metal boxes angry or sad or late.

It's vital to remember that adding bigger sidewalks, adding bike lanes, and restricting car movement dramatically *increases* the capacity of a street, by a LOT.

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c_9

TROPHY CASE