1. Once upon a time, Iain Dobson's company, SRRA, proposed the "Regional Relief Line" in one of many research reports. srraresearch.org/research-1/
2. This proposes a heavy rail "surface subway" linking Markham, Union Station, the airport and points west with a line having a capacity of 70k/hour (that's 35k each way). A clear goal was to improve access to office parks in the 905 from the 416.
3. This eventually morphed into "SmartTrack" and became John Tory's central campaign plank. The SRRA report states: "Initially they will run on 5 minute intervals at peak hours" (p11), and many claims for SmartTrack flow directly from that premise.
4. GO has no intention of running that kind of headway and has rejected very frequent service on its corridors because of the cost and complexity of providing the needed infrastructure and capacity. The service designs that were approved are still up on the RER website.
5. See metrolinx.com/en/regionalpla… and metrolinx.com/en/regionalpla… for specifics. Recently, Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster proposed changing this design to a mix of local and express trains.
6. The "outer" services beyond Unionville and Bramalea would run express with very few stops between these points and Union. The "inner" services would make local stops and would run every 15 minutes. That's what would provide "SmartTrack" service.
7. The City's estimates of capacity, ridership, and development stimulus for ST rest on the original plan where all trains would serve all stations. This is explicit in the city report.
8. Metrolinx cannot provide the stated level of service without reverting to the all local model, but this would increase travel times for riders from the outer reaches of their network.
9. Metrolinx claims there will be an additional "technical briefing" on the new stations report, and one might assume, the service plan. This is a few weeks off. The city's conditions for agreeing to SmartTrack funding include a service level Metrolinx no longer plans to offer.
10. Metrolinx has been silent on this issue all day. This is what their policy of openness and transparency amounts to. They've been caught out, and they won't answer simple questions to reconcile the City and Metrolinx views of ST service.
11. If no agreed-to service plan exist, then all of the numbers in the City's ST proposal are worthless because development and demand depend on service levels.
12. Furthermore, it is clear from the City reports that an "integrated" GO+TTC fare is only ever going to be the recently announced $3 inside-416 fare plus the $1.50 co fare for adult fare payers (not passholders). Full transferability to the TTC is NOT in the plan.
13/13. Toronto's transit planning has been cocked up ever since RoFo's subway mania and Tory's belief that SmartTrack would solve every problem in the known universe. I have absolutely no hope for the coming four years.
