Subways

Subways are the best form of rapid transit. They do not interfere with street traffic and move a lot of people. They also do not require as much winter maintenance as surface transit. Streetcar LRT's remove road space, cut off neighbourhoods on either side, as has been experienced on St. Clair Avenue West, move slowly and require much winter maintenance. They are less expensive than subways but only carry about 40,000 passengers per day while subways carry up to 400,000 passengers per day and attract development and investment. Public-private partnerships can construct full subways at less than half the cost of traditional subway construction financing, as has been experienced in Madrid, Spain. The same can be done in Toronto. Expansion of the subway system will also reduce auto traffic especially if adequate parking is provided at stations.

Subways, light rail, buses and streetcars in the City of Toronto are under the jurisdiction of the Toronto Transit Commission. Commuter rail lines are under the jurisdiction of GO Transit, which is part of Metrolinx, a Provincial agency overseeing transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.

Subway proposals:

• Immediate cancellation of the 'Transit City' streetcar LRT plan and resumption of subway expansion utilizing public-private partnerships to provide maximum rapid transit capacity
• Northern extension of the Spadina Subway from Downsview to Vaughan Corporate Centre
• Northern extension of the Yonge Subway from Finch to Richmond Hill Centre
• Completion of the Sheppard Subway east from Don Mills to the Scarborough Town Centre to meet an extended Bloor-Danforth Subway
• Extension of the Sheppard Subway west from Yonge to Downsview
• Construction of a 'U'-shaped Downtown Relief Subway through the central core under Queen Street utilizing the existing unused east-to-west station under Queen Station connecting to the Bloor-Danforth Subway at Dundas West station in the west and at Greenwood station in the east and continuing north at both ends to connect to a new Eglinton Subway at Jane Street in the west and at Don Mills Road at the Ontario Science Centre in the east.
• Eastern extension of the Bloor-Danforth Subway from Kennedy, replacing the Scarborough Rapid Transit line, to link with an extended Sheppard Subway at the Scarborough Town Centre and then extending further northeast to Malvern and the Toronto Zoo
• Western extension of the Bloor-Danforth Subway from Kipling to Sherway Gardens
• Construction of an Eglinton Subway from L.B. Pearson International Airport to meet the Bloor-Danforth Subway at Kennedy
• Construction of a new Crosstown GO rail line from the The Junction area of West Toronto northeast to Markham via Summerhill Station
• Introduction of a 'Smart Card' automated fare collection system on all transit vehicles
• Installation of suicide barriers with doors on platforms in all subway stations to reduce the frequency of suicides and the interruption to service that occurs
• Introduction of station-skipping express train service on subway lines during rush hours to carry more passengers on the subway and to improve rush hour efficiency
• Introduction of a jitney service, particularly in the suburbs, to collect people from their neighbourhoods and transport them to rail transit stations, thus making driving to a station unnecessary
• Replacement of Central Area streetcars with new double-length trolley buses with the same carrying capacity as streetcars, using overhead electric wires but with no tracks 
  
  Click on the image below for the detailed Subway Expansion report
  
  

Map of the proposed expanded subway system showing station locations
Click on this map to enlarge it



Follow this link for:
A report comparing the effect on development of streetcar LRT's and subways

There has been a deliberate attempt by Toronto politicians to stop subway construction and put money into streetcars in order to reduce road space as part of their war on the car. It is shown in the Fenton report in this link:
Alan Fenton report on the misdirection of public funding in Toronto into surface transit to prevent subway construction

Funding for subway construction can be achieved through involving the private sector in a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) which would involve a consortium of private companies putting forward the financing for subway construction and retrieing dividends from operating costs over a period of at least 25 years. It is proposed that at the very least two kilometres and one station of new subway is constructed every year for many years to come.

For an overview of how the PFI system works, follow this link:
Private Finance Initiative (PFI)

An example of subway construction using the PFI system is the East London Line Extension in London, U.K. Follow this link for information:
East London Line PFI Project



New subway trains

New trolleybuses to replace downtown streetcars