What to know
- Toronto’s new Finch West LRT, the city’s first rapid line in over 20 years, opened to long lines but immediate criticism over slow speeds and long commutes.
- Some residents and officials question whether LRTs running in the middle of streets are a viable transit solution.
- Experts say LRTs can be useful in lower-density areas or transit “deserts,” emphasizing that success depends on location, planning, and learning from past projects.
- Future LRT projects, including the Eglinton Crosstown, Eglinton East, and Waterfront East lines, are still planned or under design, with the potential to expand Toronto’s light rail network.
It’s been one month since Toronto introduced its newest rapid transit line in more than 20 years. It wasn’t a subway, nor a streetcar. This time, it was an 11-kilometre light rail transit (LRT) line spanning Finch Avenue West.
The opening was one of the most highly anticipated transit launches the city has seen in recent years, with eager riders lining up for hours on opening day.
However, within hours of its debut, the line faced backlash over slow speeds, frequent stops, and commute times nearing an hour for some riders.
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The criticism sparked heated debate among residents and city officials, with discussions centring on what went wrong and how the issues could be addressed. Some Torontonians have even suggested that the city and province should abandon the idea of LRTs altogether, particularly those running in the middle of major roads.
So, should the city reconsider its LRT plans just one month into the Finch West line’s operation?
Executive Director of CodeRedTO, Cameron MacLeod, says while the frustration is understandable, LRTs shouldn’t be ruled out entirely. Instead, he argues they can play a valuable role, depending on where they’re built.
MacLeod says every mode of transit has its strengths and weaknesses, but relying on only one type of vehicle limits the effectiveness of the overall system.
“A powerful and resilient transit network doesn’t work if there’s only one type of vehicle,” he said.
According to MacLeod, LRTs can be particularly useful in lower-density areas of the city.
“Toronto is a really big city, and we simply don’t have the money to build a subway under every street,” he said. “So we have to think about what we’re going to do for places like Malvern, where people may rely on an unreliable bus that takes 45 minutes to reach a subway to then start to get downtown.”
That’s where an LRT could fill the gap, offering a service that’s faster and higher-capacity than a bus or streetcar, while remaining cheaper to build than a subway.
Jonathan Lee, Executive Director of More Transit Southern Ontario (MTSO), agrees that LRTs shouldn’t be dismissed outright, emphasizing that their success depends heavily on context.
“LRT’s, I would say, are more suited for a balanced level of demand frequency and ridership,” Lee said.
He adds that this doesn’t only apply to suburban neighbourhoods. Certain urban corridors, such as Toronto’s waterfront, could also benefit.
“That’s a great case for an LRT,” Lee said. “There’s significant future housing development planned, and right now it’s essentially a transit desert served by only a few bus routes. Building LRT there makes sense because it can connect with the broader streetcar network.”
Both Lee and MacLeod stress that the success of an LRT network depends not just on where lines are built, but on learning from past mistakes, and from cities that have done it well.
MacLeod also points to the need for consistency in transit construction, criticizing the long pauses between major projects.
“We need to look at Madrid and how frequently they build new subway lines and new subway stations. We need to look at what China’s been doing, we need to look at all sorts of different places,” he said. “It’s not so much that we have to pick the only correct thing today. We actually have to just keep picking everything and keep moving so that we have a continual build and continual learning.”
Lee says successful examples exist closer to home, pointing to the ION LRT in Kitchener-Waterloo.
“It is primarily a mode of transit that is separated from traffic. It reuses freight corridors along the line in order to provide sections where the LRT can go at higher speeds while still remaining able to operate in mixed traffic,” he said.
Toronto’s next LRT line, the Eglinton Crosstown, is currently expected to open in 2026. The city is also planning the Eglinton East LRT and Waterfront East LRT, both of which remain in the design and planning stages.
