Mayor Rob Ford says we don’t need a vote on Transit City, the plan to build a cross-city system of light rail. Like hell we don’t. Ford’s subway-and-buses fantasy doesn’t add up.
SUBWAYS
SPECIAL FEATURES Special Features They’re speedy, depending on conditions, and run underground, so they’re supposedly less susceptible to bad weather, but anyone who’s taken the subway in February knows that’s not always true.
CAPACITY They can carry a shitload – 30,000 passengers per hour, with a “crush load,” aka rush-hour load, of 40,000 to 50,000 passengers. Which is why they’re best suited to high-density areas where ridership supports oper ating costs.
FLEXIBILITY Not much. Extra cars can’t be added to deal with rush-hour spikes. High operating costs usually rule out that option. At least that’s been the TTC’s practice.
BIGGEST PRO For developers, who get to buy up air rights for high-priced projects along subway routes – sometimes at the expense of sound planning principles and the interests of local communities.
BIGGEST CON Subway’s are expensive as hell (approximately $200 to $240 million per kilometre) and take forever to build. Will Ford’s plan be ready for the Pan Am Games? Maybe, if we use enough boring machines. But why all the expense for a two-week event?
BOTTOM LINE The marginally used Sheppard line shows what can happen when there’s too little ridership to support a subway route. It’s the most heavily subsidized line in the system ($8 per rider, compared to a citywide average of 47 cents per rider). The $880 million spent on Sheppard could have bought 500 new streetcars and the new track to go with them.
BUSES
SPECIAL FEATURES They can weave in and out of traffic. At least that’s Ford’s rationale for buses replacing streetcars, which he says block traffic, on King and Queen. Problem with that logic is that buses would need a designated lane to keep from getting stuck in traffic.
CAPACITY Limited. Buses carry half as many passengers as light rail and streetcars, some 5,000 people per hour.
FLEXIBILITY Compromised. If express lanes, advanced signalling at lights, parking controls and bus bays for easier loading of passengers are not included along routes, buses are no better than streetcars for getting around. Articulated buses can move more passengers but are more difficult to manoeuvre in traffic.
BIGGEST PRO A quick-fix option, if that’s what you’re looking for. There’s no need to build tracks, for example.
BIGGEST CON Not much bang for the buck. Their cost is something like $20 million per kilometre, a little less than streetcars and light rail, but with half the capacity. They’re a shitty, noxious ride, with harmful emissions and a lousy record of breakdowns.
BOTTOM LINE A tempting option because of lower costs, but far more would have to be purchased to carry the same number of passengers as streetcars or light rail. More garages – at least two – would have to be built to house them, according to the TTC’s calculations, which would add to costs
LRTs
SPECIAL FEATURES Light rail vehicles are comfortable, fast and give a smooth ride. Low floors make them 100 per cent accessible, unlike buses and subways, which are a nightmare for the wheelchair-bound.
CAPACITY LRVs can carry three times as many passengers as buses – 6,000 to 15,000 per hour.
FLEXIBILITY Loads to spare. LRVs can be tailored to run individually or as longer trains, depending on ridership in the area they’re serving. More bang for the buck. Multiple doors and proof-of-payment system make vehicles quick and easy to board so there’s no extended waiting at stops.
BIGGEST PRO Light rail is attractive, reliable and encourages human-scale development along routes along with amenities like walking and cycling paths and upgraded streetscapes. Super eco-friendly, too – zero emissions.
BIGGEST CON Some argue that running light rail on designated right-of-ways isn’t always the best option for narrow streets. But putting them on right-of-ways makes service predictable. Besides, LRVs can run underground, too.
BOTTOM LINE Light rail has become the fastest-growing transportation mode in North American because it’s a better fit in suburban areas that lack the densities to support expensive subways. LRVs are slightly more expensive than buses ($30 to $40 million per km), with about half the capacity of subways but at one-fifth the cost.
