TORONTO – Ontario Transportation Minister Glen Murray guaranteed Monday that Scarborough will get “high-quality rapid-transit.” He just wouldn’t say what kind.
On Tuesday city council will decide, for the third and maybe the last time, whether it wants a subway or light-rail transit running through the city’s transit-starved east end.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) released a report in January comparing the pros and cons of subway and light rail through Scarborough.
Subway
Extending the Bloor-Danforth line through Scarborough would add approximately 7.6 kilometres and three new stations to the route. It would cost an estimated $2.3 billion
The TTC report says a subway through Scarborough would offer the benefit of not having to transfer from Kennedy Station to the Bloor-Danforth line.
A subway would also be able to move greater volumes of people at 31 km/h – 8 km/h faster than an LRT. The TTC report estimates 24,000 people would be within walking distance to the subway.
Light-Rail Transit
Building an LRT in Scarborough would add approximately 9.9 kilometres and seven new stations to the route.
While the LRT wouldn’t move as fast as a subway at just 23 km/h it would cover more ground, have more stations and serve approximately twice as many people in Scarborough, according to the TTC Report, which estimates 47,000 people would be within walking distance to a station.
At $1.8 billion, the LRT also costs about $500 million less than the subway. It already has guaranteed funding from the provincial government.
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