Toronto transit tour, plus some general urbanism

[Kilgore Trout]

It always impresses me that Canadian cities have such high per capita transit ridership when transit systems are so under-resourced. A city with as many transit riders as Toronto should have twice as many subway lines and dedicated streetcar ROWs all over the place, and yet...

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by jdcamb

Spadina is also my favorite street name.

you might like this

• Video Link

[dewE]

Toronto's Subways haven't kept up as far as expansion of lines go over the years. It has been a constant battle with City Councillors (as to subways or light rail options). Probably made worse with the amalgamation of the city. With that said transit has definitely improved over the last decade and the Union Pearson express was a big welcome for me (although they charge $12.50 one way). I use the Go-Trains a lot and they are getting more expensive also. Montreal has a bigger and better subway system and the bike lanes look better. New York subways system is extensive and huge, but I found it a bit confusing and really had to pay attention as to which train to get on. Toronto's subway system is pretty straight forward and easy to learn.

[softee]

Originally Posted by dewE

Montreal has a bigger and better subway system

Not including lines or stations currently under construction, Toronto's subway system is slightly bigger than Montreal's -- Toronto's has 75 stations with a system length of 76.9 km, while Montreal's has 68 stations with a system length of 69.2 km.

"Better" is a matter of opinion, although many people would agree with you.

[shappy]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

you might like this

• Video Link

Nice... the quintessential TTC geek anthem. It was also used for the intro to Speaker's Corner.

I like this one too :
• Video Link

[dewE]

Originally Posted by softee

Not including lines or stations currently under construction, Toronto's subway system is slightly bigger than Montreal's -- Toronto's has 75 stations with a system length of 76.9 km, while Montreal's has 68 stations with a system length of 69.2 km.

"Better" is a matter of opinion, although many people would agree with you.

I stand corrected.
What I find lacking in Toronto's Subway is that it doesn't go into Mississauga and what they have for Scarborough is weak from Kennedy onward. I don't know why they never expanded from Kipling to the Airport. I always had to catch a bus for the last leg of the trip.
But as mentioned, transit has been improving a lot with other options other than Subways.

[Nouvellecosse]

You could say something similar about Montreal though. The Metro doesn't go to the airport and requires a shuttle bus, and the major suburban area of the West Island completely lacks service, while service in the south shore is weak from Longueuil-UdeS onward. Yes, both are expanding their transit services, but one thing Toronto already has is an airport rail connection.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

You could say something similar about Montreal though. The Metro doesn't go to the airport and requires a shuttle bus, and the major suburban area of the West Island completely lacks service, while service in the south shore is weak from Longueuil-UdeS onward. Yes, both are expanding their transit services, but one thing Toronto already has is an airport rail connection.

The link to the airport should be open in 2021/2022 (the REM will go there). As for the West Island, it will also have REM service, but keep in mind that it only has a population of 350K people spread over a large area (vs a 4.3M population for Greater Montreal). Other dense and more populated areas also lack service, like Montréal-Nord, Rivière-des-Prairies, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Anjou, St-Léonard, and many other areas off-island.

[Doady]

Any subway extension into Mississauga would be along Dundas, not to the airport. West Island lack strong transit corridors.

Montreal needs an alternate north-south line on the east side to relieve overcrowding, like Toronto. Yonge and Berri subways overcrowded for the same reasons.

Montreal system (metro and buses) lack air conditioning. Montreal metro trains are also much narrower than TTC subway trains. Their metro trains are narrower than even the TTC streetcars.