Quote:
Originally Posted by realcity
The LRT is not about speed. Let's admit that. Shaving 6 minutes off an existing bus route is not why LRT is happening.
For Fred and many it is about replacing the 100 year old infrastructure under Main/King that is a ticking time bomb. when the City is already struggling to fix the Clairmont and now Sherman (again) Accesses if King blows up now, the are truly frigged.
Secondly, many pro LRT people already live downtown and walk everywhere, they won't even use it. They just like how 'euro-urban' it will look. Ask the current bus users, who are mostly disenfranchised, let alone politically involved in this, but as usual, elites think they know what they want and need. They don't want LRT. I will tell you, they just more busses so you can actually have a seat on.
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I would argue it is about speed. Even if it were not shaving time off the travel, maintaining the current travel speed is extremely important. Public transit is underwhelming to a lot of people because of the slowness compared to driving. If we want people to take transit, we need to make it as quick as possible.
I do think a huge part of LRT is repairing a crumbling King Street, and it is great that the province of Ontario is paying for the repairs.
The LRT is called "higher-order transit" for a reason. The B-line is already at capacity during rush hour, and the transit system is expected to double in daily ridership over the next decade, and the occasion ridership will likely triple. The bus that skip those people waiting on King have a maximum capacity of like 68 people, and the LRT trains have double the capacity, and can run more quickly across the city, I think that is a pretty good improvement that cannot necessarily be explained away by "euro-urban" gentrifying middle class people. This will help the entire city and the people in it.