Sean Marshall
After an embarrassing start to Line 6 Finch West, the long-delayed Line 5 Eglinton-Crosstown quietly opened to great relief. The new LRT offers much-needed optimism for Toronto’s transit future.
The Sunday, February 8 opening of the Eglinton-Crosstown is confirmed, along with some major changes to the bus network. But there will be no public celebration for this long-delayed transit project.
The Eglinton-Crosstown LRT will soon open, finally, and it should be significantly faster than the local buses it replaces. There are reasons to be hopeful that this project will be more successful than the Finch West LRT, but it also has a lot more riding on its performance.
The idea of returning passenger trains to Ottawa’s beautiful downtown Union Station is very attractive. However, the current VIA station offers several key advantages for Alto that the old terminal can not match.
With proper signal priority, reliable service, and a flexible route, Waterloo Region’s LRT is a good example of a successful transit service and planning tool. Though it has a few issues – including some slow sections and a restrictive operating contract – Ion works well.
The best way to improve transit in Toronto is to focus on affordable, quick, and effective solutions
Orangeville is the largest Canadian community with free transit. But it’s not necessarily a model for larger systems
There’s not one easy fix for the Finch West LRT. Not only does it need transit signal priority, but it needs tighter schedules and better operations to live up to early promises.
Some progress and some disappointing losses in Canada’s intercity transportation links in 2025.
Can a brand-new light rail line outrun the local bus it will soon replace? I went out to Finch Avenue West to see for myself.
Sean Marshall