Let's improve Toronto's subway

My election campaign for premier of Ontario

Map of possible Toronto subway network in the future

Note

This was easily the most effort and time I’ve spent writing an article for. Researching and learning for transit expansion projects was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the process, despite being for my home city. Map making was also very fun, despite working perhaps a little too excessively on it in hindsight.

This little project also opened my eyes to the values of public transit and especially varying forms of rail transit. It’s something I’m going to keep an eye out for as I visit different places around the world.

I like cities with good public transit. If transit is good enough to avoid driving in an urban area, I would much prefer to do so. That’s why it pains me that Toronto’s metro system is very lackluster for a city of its size. Toronto’s public transit is seen highly when compared to most North American cities, but it still has too many shortcomings. It feels like vehicle traffic has also become much worse in the last few years. So in this article, I’m going to show my proposals of how I would improve the network through my armchair transportation engineering skills. But before proceeding, here’s also a glossary in case I mention something confusing.

Arterial Road

Big roads that are between highways and small neighbourhood roads in terms of capacity and speed. These are often long and continuous, and the site of urban or suburban development

Transit Corridor

Some kind of line-like area on a map that you can draw where a lot of people live, move around, or activity happens. These areas are where rapid transit projects are typically installed

(At/Below/Above) Grade

Whether a transit vehicle runs on the ground, below it, or elevated. Order by increasing cost: at, above, below. Below and above grade offer more reliable and faster service, because vehicles get their own dedicated right of way. They’re also shielded from the environment and cars. “Grade separated” means either below or above grade

BRT

Bus Rapid Transit. A transit corridor where buses are used instead of trains. Benefits are flexibility, short time-to-realization, and low capital costs. Downsides are limited capacity and high operating costs

LRT

Light Rail Transit. Rail transit that uses smaller trains which are more flexible, have lower capacity, and are lower cost. The opposite is heavy rail. The “light” and “heavy” refer to passenger capacity, not physical weight

Cut and Cover

A method for building below grade transit lines or stations. Involves cutting up the ground, installing the tunnel and infrastructure, then covering it. Upsides are low costs and speed, downside is significant impact to surroundings. The alternative is boring a tunnel, which uses a massive tunnel boring machine to quietly dig a tunnel underneath even high density areas. Much less disruptive but more expensive

Infilling

Building a new station between existing stations after a transit line has already been installed. So far, the only infilled station in Toronto is North York Centre

Tail Tracks

Rail tracks that were laid down beyond a terminal station. Can be used to park trains, reverse them, short-turns, etc.

Current and near-future system

As an illustration for why Toronto’s transit network can use some help, here is the current subway map. I also overlayed the districts of Toronto.

Map with Toronto’s current subway lines drawn on it

Doesn’t really look like much for a city with a population of 3 million, does it? There are some big problems with the current lines.

  1. The only way to get to core downtown (Old Toronto) is to use lines 1 or 2, which cause overcrowding at the interchanges. In fact, line 1 is running at full capacity and needs an entirely new line to reduce its burden
  2. There is no east-west crosstown outside of downtown, meaning people either use buses that get stuck in traffic or again concentrate into downtown
  3. Line 4 (yes, not 3. That one was shut down in 2023) is too short and has poor utility
  4. The network simply doesn’t reach enough people. Lots of neighbourhoods are left to use buses or drive cars. Districts like Scarborough and Etobicoke are almost completely in a transit desert zone, which causes heavy car usage.

Here is the same map but with the some of the busiest bus routes (red), GO trains (commuter rail, black), and streetcars (blue) shown as well. The busiest bus routes are drawn in a thicker line. Because Toronto doesn’t use a distance-based fare system (it uses a flat fare system), it’s impossible to show usage patterns within each transit line.

Toronto’s current subway network with busy bus routes, GO rail lines, and streetcars overlayed

Note the following:

  1. Before the pandemic, the busiest bus and streetcar routes carried over 50 000 and 90 000 people per day respectively. Despite the high ridership, these transit modes get stuck in car traffic and have no signal priority
  2. The GO trains all converge at Union Station, the bottom of the “U” on line 1, which causes this station to perpetually be busy. While there are some stops before reaching Union Station, most people still get off there

There are 3 new transit lines under construction right now which will fix a lot of these issues. Line 5 is the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, which is infamous for being at least 5 years late and extremely overbudget. Line 6 is the less infamous Finch West LRT. Both of these routes will replace extremely busy east-west bus routes that run along major arterial roads.

Line 3 is the Ontario Line and is proper heavy rail. It serves multiple purposes:

  1. It provides an alternative route for people to move through and to/from downtown, “relieving” line 1’s capacity issues. It is the successor to the Downtown Relief Line
  2. It allows GO train riders from the two busiest lines to get off in downtown before Union Station, reducing strain at that station
  3. It provides a new north-south connection in mid-eastern Toronto, providing another way to move through midtown
  4. It brings more rapid transit to high density neighbourhoods

There are also extensions on lines 1 and 2 currently being built. The eastern end of line 1 is being extended north out of Toronto and into Richmond Hill, which will connect with other regional transit and the Richmond Hill GO line. Line 2 is being extended northeast into Scarborough to replace the decomissioned, old line 3.

Lines 5 and 6 are expected to open by end of 2025, while line 3 and the lines 1 and 2 extensions are expected to finish by 2031 or so. So, the map below is really about Toronto’s urban rail network at least 6 years from the time of writing.

Toronto’s predicted subway network by 2031

And again, here is the map with GO trains, streetcars, and bus routes.

TOronto’s predicted subway network by 2031, overlayed by the same bus, GO train, and streetcar routes

While the network looks a lot nicer, we can always do better. Some problems still persist:

  1. Most of Scarborough and Etobicoke are still in a transit desert
  2. The entirety of line 6 and the eastern half of line 5 will run at surface level with no signal priority (for now). Combined with the fact that these are light rail vehicles instead of heavy rail, capacity is much lower than lines 1, 2, 3, and 4. They also won’t run as fast as the heavy rail lines, because they have more clustered stations
  3. There is no north-south line in the western parts of the city
  4. Line 4 still sucks. Arguably even more so than today’s map, because everything else except line 4 has improved

The fantasy future

First, here’s the final map upfront.

My vision for Toronto’s future subway network with multiple extensions and new lines

And here’s a list of all the stations that were renamed, mostly by me. This was mostly done to make each station’s name more unique. Toronto has a habit of appending east or west to station names, which might cause some confusion. The best example is Finch West Station, which was named so because Finch Station already exists in the east. But Finch West Station is also the eastern terminal of line 6, which mostly runs on Finch Avenue West…

And here’s a list of all new infilled stations.

Details and justification

Now for the fun part; the details of what and why. I’ll explain all the stations being added and reasoning. Here are some general rules I tried to follow when making this map.

  1. Money is finite. As cool as it would be to draw 20 fantasy lines that go everywhere, I tried to be somewhat realistic. Although given North America’s track record, this plan is already very ambitious
  2. Follow existing proposals when possible. If professional teams that design transit for their job made something, they probably have good reasons for why
  3. Consider the busiest bus, streetcar, and GO routes and housing density, as well as future development
  4. Remember geography and physical constraints; trains don’t have the turn radius of a car and you can’t cross a valley at will

Each extension or new line is split into phases to make cost manageable, and I’ll rate its priority. I’ll also provide alternatives to reduce costs.

Line 1: Yonge-University

Customized Yonge North Subway Extension map with Newtonbrook Station

The eastern part of line 1 follows the active Yonge North Subway Extension plan, but with an extra station between Finch and Yonge-Steeles. This station, Newtonbrook, is located at the intersection of Cummer Avenue and Drewry Avenue where high rise development is ongoing.

Line 2: Bloor-Danforth

Sherway Gardens extension

Line 2 extension to Sherway Gardens

Line 2 gets a 1 stop western extension to Sherway Gardens, a large shopping mall. This extension can use the existing GO rail corridor for most of its path, and the rest can be done cut and cover. This would also set up the line to be ready for an ambitious expansion into Mississauga later.

Milliken Park extension

Line 2 extension to Milliken Park

I am also proposing a 2 stop northern extension on the eastern end of line 2: from its future terminus of Sheppard-McCowan to Milliken Park. This extension is more expensive because it will require much more tunnelling than the western extension.

The infill station, Danforth, is used for transfers to line 7 (light green) and to serve the neighbourhood.

Line 3: Ontario

Line 3 has potential to be expanded significantly, so I’ll break it down into smaller parts.

Don Mills - Steeles extension

Line 3 northern extension along Don Mills Road to Fairview Station (renamed from Don Mills Station)

The eastern part of line 3 will terminate at Don Valley Station when it opens. While this will provide an alternative north-south transit corridor to line 1, extending line 3 further north is required to make a bigger impact. There are proposals to extend the line to Steeles Avenue and create a station next to Highway 404; at a minimum, extending the line to Fairview Station (renamed from Don Mills Station) must be done. Line 4 already runs to here.

Fairview Station has good housing density and a bus terminal which would feed into line 3. Donway Station is by Lawrence Avenue East, where a large shopping centre, high rise development, and busy bus route are. Moatfield Station is meant for the bus route along York Mills Road. Graydon Hall Station will serve the high density housing and community around it. Oriole Station will serve its community centre, neighbourhood, and school. Seneca Station is where Seneca College lies, whose students would now have access to rapid transit. Seneca College also lies on Finch Avenue East, which has a popular bus route. Highway 404 Station is at the northern boundary of Toronto and is where line 3 will interchange with line 8 (red).

A large fraction of this extension and its stations can be built at or above grade. Parts of track from Don Valley to Donway, most of Fairview to Moatfield can be built elevated, and Moatfield Station and Graydon Hall Station could be done at surface level or elevated.

Highway 7 extension

Continued northern extension of line 3 to Highway 7

A lower priority project would be to continue the extension up to Highway 7, into Markham. Ridership would be much lower on this segment. This is repeating what Vaughan Metropolitan Station was on the western end of line 1; extend the subway out of Toronto to spur high density urban environments in neighbouring cities.

Mount Dennis extension

Line 3 western extension to Junction Triangle Station (renamed from Dundas West Station)

Now we’ll turn to the western end of line 3 from Exhibition Station. There is a proposal to extend the line to Dundas West Station (I renamed it to Junction Triangle Station), but I can’t find much details about a route. So, I mostly made this part up.

I’m building a new infilled station at Cherry Street called Distillery Station. This station is actually to be placed on the phase 1 project of line 3, which is currently under construction. This will connect to the improved streetcar service there as part of the Waterfront East LRT project by the city. High density housing and large parks are in the vicinity.

This extension starts the western relief for line 1. Line 3 will start by going north on Dufferin Street, replacing parts of the busy bus route and serving very high density neighbourhoods. Line 3 will:

  1. Connect with the streetcar routes along King Street and Queen Street, and serve the future King-Liberty GO Station (Liberty Station)
  2. Intersect with Dundas Avenue West for the Dundas streetcar (Beaconsfield Station)
  3. Intersect with College Street for the Carlton streetcar (Brockton Station)

As you can tell, line 3 heavily prioritizes on interchanging with as many different transit stations as possible. After Brockton Station, the line travels north on Dundas Avenue West until it interchanges at Junction Triangle Station for the Milton GO line and the UP Express, which offers direct service to Pearson International Airport.

Line 3 alternative western extension to Junction Triangle Station through Roncesvalles Avenue

The biggest problem with this proposed route is the sharp bends, because I’m not sure the train could turn this sharply. It’s possible that the tail tracks at Exhibition Station are too close to Liberty Station. If this alignment is not possible, line 3 can continue west from Exhibition Station and gradually move northwest, along the intersection of King-Jameson, then turn north from Queen-Roncesvalles. This option would likely be less costly, as the GO rail corridor from Exhibition can continued to be shared to Jameson.

If my first alignment is feasible, the existing GO rail corridor can still be used to cut costs. This would significantly reduce the amount of tunnelling needed to reach Junction Triangle Station. The downside is losing Beaconsfield Station and Liberty Station, which means a GO station interchange.

Once line 3 reaches Junction Triangle Station, it continues slightly northwest along Keele Street, which is another busy bus corridor. Stock Yards Station is a shopping district, where the St Clair streetcar terminates, and where the future St. Clair-Old Weston Station will be installed. The UP Express will make stop here, but I’m hoping GO trains can also make a stop once electrification makes them faster. Depending on how ridership is expected to be, Rogers Station can be eliminated.

The final station in this extension is the interchange with line 5 at Mount Dennis Station. This provides an interchange with the Kitchener GO line and the UP Express again.

Jane north extension

Line 3’s eastern extension replacing the Jane LRT

Regardless of what route line 3 takes to Mount Dennis Station, its alignment from here is fairly simple. It will be the incarnation of the Jane LRT’s goal from the Transit City plan. The Jane LRT was supposed to run along the entirety of Jane Street from line 2 up north to line 1, but line 3 will fulfill the northern half of it. Jane Street has a very busy bus corridor, lacks good transit options, and has lots of low-income neighbourhoods.

From Mount Dennis Station, line 3 will follow Weston Road to Weston Station. The Kitchener GO line stops here again, and there is good high density housing nearby. Line 3 then goes back to follow Jane Street. The next stations are all along intersections with major east-west arterial roads; Wilson Avenue, Sheppard Avenue West, and Finch Avenue West. These roads currently have good bus ridership, and Finch will get its line 6 LRT. Hopefully line 4 is extended to here, which I’ll talk about shortly. The other stations along the way serve high density housing areas. The terminus is Pioneer Village Station, where line 3 will meet lines 1 and 8 again. A good bus terminal exists here, and a stop south on line 1 takes you to York University.

Most of this extension will have to be tunnelled, which means this will be expensive. However, the benefits of bringing rapid transit to the west of line 1 and relieving stressed bus corridors is worth it.

Line 4: Sheppard

Line 4 is a meme because of its short length having earned it the name of a “stubway”. Several expansions are needed to massively improve its utility.

Allen - Oakdale extension

Line 4 western extension to Aleln Station (renamed from Sheppard West Station)

A new infill station is built at Willowdale Avenue, between Sheppard-Yonge Station and Bayview Village Station.

The first phase of line 4 extensions is to reach Sheppard West Station, now named Allen Station. This will solve the missing crosstown link in northern Toronto. The line will connect to the busy bus route on Bathurst Street (Earl Bales Park Station), and connect line 4 to the massive Wilson train yard. Line 1’s trains are stored near Allen Station and currently have to go around the U to get to the eastern part of line 1. Making a connection through line 4 will massively speed this process up. Line 4’s tail tracks already extend out about halfway to Bathurst, which means the actual distance is even shorter.

The biggest challenge will be crossing the large valley between Sheppard-Yonge and Earl Bales Park. Sheppard Avenue runs across on a bridge, so this would have to be retrofitted to support the weight of a subway underneath it. To cut costs, Faywood Station can be eliminated.

A lower priority extension is to continue line 4 southwest to interchange with line 3. Line 4 first curves north to Downsview GO Station (renamed from Downsview Park), which provides seamless transfers to line 6 and the Barrie GO line. This area is a massive open area with no housing nearby, so construction will not be expensive. The surrounding Downsview Park is also being used as a venue for large concerts and gatherings, so there is value in making this place more integrated with the subway.

Line 4 then heads down Keele Street, which is another busy bus corridor. The line then turns west on Wilson Avenue to interchange with line 3 at Oakdale-Beverley Station.

As for why I didn’t extend line 4 directly west from Downsview GO Station, there are a few reasons.

  1. Housing density becomes lower on this part of Sheppard Avenue
  2. Line 4 would be competing with line 6 ridership
  3. Sheppard Avenue terminates shortly west of Glenfield-Jane Station and is blocked by a massive park, so it has to turn north or south soon anyways
  4. There are more bus corridors south of Sheppard to serve, while not fully competing with line 5’s ridership

Rouge Hill extension

Line 4 eastern extension to Scarborough Town Centre, Malvern Centre, Meadowvale, then Rouge Hill

Line 4 also needs an eastern extension to really shine. The bus route along Sheppard Avenue East is busy; it intersects with multiple popular north-south bus routes and Agincourt Station, where the Stouffville GO train makes a stop. There are also high density housing clusters along the corridor, and two big destination hubs to hit; Scarborough Centre and Malvern Centre.

The government is considering an extension of line 4 to the future Sheppard-McCowan Station (north of Scarborough Centre Station on line 2). This would take the line straight east on Sheppard Avenue without any bends, but I think that making a diversion south to Scarborough Centre is more important. While Sheppard Avenue continues as an easy-to-follow arterial road, Scarborough Centre is already a major transit hub, has existing and emerging high density residential buildings, and is a visitor destination. It just makes sense for rapid transit to serve this area, and the old line 3 used to do this. Plus, density on Sheppard Avenue begins to drop off as you go east from Scarborough Centre. Getting to Scarborough Centre means tunnelling under Highway 401, a 14 lane monstrosity. It might be possible to use the commercial land around Agincourt Station to go elevated instead, or use the rail corridor that already passes underneath the highway.

East of Scarborough Centre is Malvern Centre, another high density neighbourhood. Because this place is north of Highway 401, line 4 will have to cross the highway again. Again though, there is plenty of commercial land that shouldn’t object to a tunnel or bridge.

After passing Malvern Centre Station, line 4 resumes following Sheppard Avenue. Density is lower from here on, so stations are more spaced out. Line 4 will pass the Toronto Zoo (Meadowvale Station), Rouge National Park (Rouge Park Station), cross Highway 401 south once more, then continue south to Lake Ontario. The terminus is Rouge Hill Station, where the Lakeshore East GO trains make a stop. Within this series of extensions, priority should be given to connect with Scarborough Centre. The extension to Malvern Centre and Morningside Station is next, then finally the Rouge Hill extension is last. The segment between Meadowvale Station and Rouge Park Station could be built elevated to save costs.

And with that, most of Scarborough finally has access to rapid transit.

Line 5: Eglinton

Extension of lines 5 and 6 to Pearson International Airport

Line 5 gets a simple 1 stop extension to Pearson International Airport, up from its future terminus at Renforth Station. Because the surrounding land is either airport, highway, or low density commercial space, there are no extra stops.

Line 6: Finch West

Airport extension

Line 6 is extended south towards the airport as well, but picks up a few stops along the way. From its current terminus at Humber College, it stops at Woodbine Mall (Highview Station), the future Woodbine GO Station (Racetrack Station), and several street intersections with clusters of airport hotels and businesses.

Downsview GO extension

Line 6 southeastern extension to Downsview GO Station (renamed from Downsview Park Station)

Line 6 should also get a short extension to Downsview GO Station from its current terminus at Four Winds Station (formerly Finch West). As line 4 and 6 don’t offer a truly seamless crosstown travel, it’s important to reduce the time it takes to hop between one and the other. This extension will pass through commercial land, then turn south on the Barrie line GO rail corridor. There should be no disturbance to any neighbourhoods, making it cheap and easy.

Cancelled Finch extension

Line 6 eastern extension to Finch Station

I want to also mention line 6’s original plans. It was meant to interchange with line 1 at Finch Station (and line 4 was never meant to be extended west), but this was cut due to budget constraints. While I can see this western extension providing benefits, I’m not sure if it’s a great idea with a proper subway on the next arterial road south, and with another LRT (line 8) that will run on the next arterial road north. If I had to choose just one to extend, I would choose line 4 because of its greater potential.

Line 7: Scarborough

Shortened route of line 7 through Scarborough from Kennedy Station to Morningside

This is a proposed LRT by the city of Toronto with some big changes. Their proposal for line 7 assumes line 4 will terminate at Sheppard-McCowan Station, so line 7 loops back west from Morningside Station. My version of line 7 modifies it to work with line 4’s alignment to Scarborough Centre and Malvern Centre. My version also removes quite a few stations along the way, because I think the original proposal has far too many for a rapid transit line.

Line 7 starts by interchanging with lines 2 and 5 at Kennedy Station, then again with line 2 at Danforth Station, then heads east along Eglinton Avenue East. It connects to the Eglinton GO and Guildwood GO Stations (Bellamy and Cedar Ridge Stations, respectively), which are for the Lakeshore East GO line. The line continues northeast on Kingston Road until it reaches Lawrence Avenue East (West Hill Station), at which it turns north onto Morningside Avenue. It then goes to the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, interchanges with line 4 at Morningside Station, then continues a little further north up Morningside Avenue.

If you’re wondering why line 7 doesn’t connect with line 8 (the red one), it’s because basically no one lives in the area between the lines. It can be done, but it’s very low priority. If this extension happens or is possible, then it begs the question of why line 7 is separate in the first place. Because the line is so short compared to the other rail lines, why not make line 8 take over line 7? Because of uncertainty, I’ll assume line 7 terminates where it does on the map.

And in case you’re wondering why line 5 can’t simply be extended to replace line 7, it’s because of poor planning. Line 2 is currently being extended to Sheppard-McCowan Station, and the alignment of its tunnel means that line 5 cannot proceed past line 2. This means someone making a full east-west trip will have to get off line 5 trains at Kennedy Station, walk a little, then board the trains for line 7. If possible, a solution should really be found to prevent this from happening.

Line 7 is an odd existence: short, almost unnecessary (as a separate line), and planned to be slower than a bus.

Line 8: Steeles

Line 8 will be an LRT that runs along Steeles Avenue, the northernmost east-west arterial road in Toronto. This line is one of two in this article with no official proposal as far as I know of.

North York

Western part of line 8 from Pioneer Village Station to Highway 404 Station, along Steeles Avenue

The more important phase is the western portion between lines 1 and 3. The ongoing extension of line 1 (and hopefully line 3 later) will bring rapid transit to this area along Steeles Avenue, so it’s a good idea to establish an east-west crosstown line while development hasn’t made it too difficult. Line 8’s western terminus is Pioneer Village Station. It travels east along Steeles Avenue and terminates at Highway 404 Station.

Scarborough

Eatern part of line 8 from Highway 404 Station to Sheppard-McCowan Station, then to Markham Road

The second phase is to extend line 8 further west to Milliken Park Station and interchange with line 2, then terminate a little beyond that at Markham Road. If a line 2 extension to Milliken Park will not happen, line 8 can replace it by going south on McCowan Road. It would then terminate at Sheppard-McCowan Station and interchange with line 2.

Line 9: Humber

This is another fantasy LRT of mine as well. It was made using these points as reference:

  1. An Etobicoke transit line, running north-south on Kipling Avenue, was briefly considered decades ago
  2. There is emerging, very high density housing by the Humber Bay Shores which currently lacks solid transit options

And hence the birth of the Humber line, named after its proxmity to the Humber River.

Humber Shores

Line 9 route south from Islington Station to the Humber Bay Shores, then up to Jane Station

This area on the lakeshore is rapidly gaining high density housing and is currently only served by a single streetcar line, so a substantially slower and smaller LRT. That steetcar also run east-west instead of north-south, so residents here cannot access line 2. The streetcars themselves can be significantly improved just by policy tweaks, but we’ll ignore that for now.

The big problems are housing density and geography. The section between line 2 and lakeshore is full of medium-density dettached houses and very narrow roads. There is no plot of land easily available to build a station at, so this entire section will likely have to be bypassed. I put in 1 station at Swansea for an optimistic outlook. Tunnelling is necessary to get through this area, but the next issue is how to tunnel so close to a large lake. There’s also a river and large pond flanking the east and west of the corridor, which adds to the water problem. But given that there is a high speed rail tunnel under the English Channel, I want to think this will be solvable.

Assuming that something can be built, a tunnel from Jane Station is built and ends close to the lakeshore. Line 9 will emerge on ground level and transition to elevated around Sunnyside Park Station, where the Queen streetcar runs. The line turns west and runs parallel with the Gardiner Expressway and the streetcar to serve the high rise buildings of this area. Curving southwest around the lake, line 9 will interchange with the planned Park Lawn GO Station. The line then merges with the nearby GO rail corridor and stops at the existing Mimico GO Station. It then turns north on Islington Avenue until meeting line 2 at Islington Station.

If this line were to receive an extension, its terminus at Jane Station can perhaps be extended north. Line 9 could tunnel to Eglinton Flats Station, then turn east to interchange at Mount Dennis as well. This would fulfill the southern half of the Jane LRT and make line 3 interchange with every single line other than 7.

Kipling

Line 9’s route as it runs north-south on Kipling Avenue from Steeles Avenue to Bloor Street

Now is the easier, original Etobicoke transit plan: line 9 will simply run north-south on Kipling Avenue. Technically the original Etobicoke rapid transit plan headed northeast towards Jane and Finch Station, but now we have line 6 to do that. From Islington Station, line 9 first heads west to Kipling Station. It helps that this station is already a major transit hub, which will establish line 9 as the Etobicoke north-south crosstown.

Because Kipling Station is slightly southwest of Islington Station, line 9 will have to make a very sharp bend to continue up Kipling Avenue if it interchanges directly with the station. Instead, I suggest making line 9’s bends less sharp. This means lines 2 and 9 won’t be directly next to each other and transfering will involve a little walking. To overcome this downside, the entire Bloor-Kipling intersection can be turned into a massive station with built-in ammenities like stores and attractions. Turn the transit hub into a destination itself and take advantage of the ongoing high density construction boom.

Line 9 will turn north and follow Kipling Avenue and interchange with lines 5, 4, and 6. While housing density is very low in the gap between lines 9 and 8, line 8 could be extended west in the future to make a more seamless network. And with that, Etobicoke also now has a solid rapid transit line running through it. My main concern with the Kipling part of the line is how close it is to line 6. That one will hardly pass through any residential land on its way to the airport while line 9 will for most of its length, but it still feels redundant to have parallel rail tracks so close to each other.

Actual feasibility: 😂

Now that fantasy time is over, it’s time to make a more realistic judgement of my proposals. Ideally, government would just force through public transit projects and actually get them done. Both the province and country could really benefit from large projects at a time like this. But instead of progressing society, the important people want to remove bike lanes, prevent congested buses from getting a priority lane, and even build a $100 billion tunnel that runs underneath and parallel to Highway 401. You can probably fund everything on this map with that money and still have billions left over. But then again, the unavoidable cost increases and delays make it feel like even $100 billion won’t be enough for this single city.

On the other hand, Toronto and the GTA, or even the Greater Horseshoe, have most of the pieces in place to fulfill ambitious transit dreams. Toronto has an existing streetcar network that just needs a few policy changes to be so much better. I was tempted to put another downtown relief line running between lines 2 and 3, but improving the streetcars is a far more efficient plan. GO expansion will (in the distant future) bring regional rail transit like Europe, and most of the rail corridors are ready for electrification. GO expansion is honestly exciting enough that it deserves its own article. Transit expansion in Toronto is mostly held back by lack of political will and car-centrism.

Large investments like rapid transit need to be ambitious. Instead of building where density and congestion already exists, public transit should be how cities shape land development; the “build it and they will come” mentality. While it’s frustrating to seeing movement that is so opposite to this idea, hope still persists even in the worst of times. And don’t worry; if progress doesn’t happen soon enough, the inevitable congestion will eventually force it to happen. See you in 2080, assuming NIMBYs don’t completely tear this to shreds.