Historicist: Life in Wartime
Elsewhere in the Ist-a-Verse
Torontoist nearly spat out his coffee this morning after reading this story on the Spacing Wire. It turns out that the Ontario Government somehow might find the money to help fund the extension of the subway from Downsview all the way up to York University. That's right, the York Subway, that long-held Toronto dream might just become a reality.
The total cost of the extension will be somewhere around $1.5 billion according to the Star, which makes us wonder why the Liberal government isn't this generous with its money when the city comes begging cap in hand for things equally necessary but less headline-getting (ie. Social housing, Ontario Drug Plan funding).
Spacing Wire also points us to Steve Munro's cautionary essay about why this project might actually be a giant money pit and unnecessary. In the end Torontoist is very happy to see transit get real funding, we're just annoyed that predictably, the Liberals won't open up the pursestrings unless there are huge headlines to be had.
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WHY do we need this?... this is going to turn into yet another money pit which will force us to pay more money to ride the TTC... couldn't the money be used to fix the problems which already exist (lack of service in some areas, fare hikes etc.??)
( i realize it must suck to get up to york u. but come on!! it also sucks when its -4000 out and EVERY streetcar is so full you can see arms being squeezed out the windows)
This is like going out and buying a new Porsche when you can't pay your rent. Service is already rickety, fares are going up, the stations are so run down it's embarassing. There are two universities already on the subway line; I'll bet most York students are already commuting down from the burbs, not coming up from the city anyway. This is just electioneering; if the Liberals lose this election, this will be the first thing chopped, guaranteed.
We have always found Torontoists habit of refering to themselves plurally quite annoying. "Is Torontoist the Queen?", we would ask ourselves. Now in this post we find out that Torontoist is a he. So confusing.
Torontoist has always found Michael's spelling and grammer to be quite annoying.
"the stations are so run down it's embarassing"
Compared to where? I've experienced the heavy rail systems in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, and let me tell you, every single stop I made along the way in all three cities made me long for the cleanliness of the bathrooms at Finch station.
"if the Liberals lose this election, this will be the first thing chopped, guaranteed."
Well, we all know how much the TTC improved the last time a new government came in and cancelled subway-related projects it considered a waste of money.
What a complete waste of money. It's great to know we can spend so much tax money when we have deficits and people are already taxed to death.
But if the money must be wasted, build the stop to the university only (not that York students deserve it). Finch & Keele? Sheppard West? Does anyone even go there? Is there anything there? Take a look. Steels West station? Come on. There is no high density at these locations.
Keep the university station and use the rest of the money to extend Yonge & Sheppard to Downsview.
touché.
Where is "Steels" anyway?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Shut up, York haters.
I personally think that the subway's a good thing. However why York U? A line would be better served on Eglinton or Queen. I'd much prefer taking the bus to York U than to the airport. Toronto needs a rail link to its airport either from the downtown via Queen or midtown via Eglinton.
And lets not forget the SRT needs replacement. The York U can be ran above ground saving hundreds of millions leaving enough funds left to improve the existing system or start another line.