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The Good News

The GTA Transit 2050 Plan is something that in many ways is already being implemented. Since this plan is based on what already exists, what is already under construction, what is already in design, what has been proposed before and studied, and organic expansion of what we already have, this project is well underway. This plan exists to bring various ideas, concepts, and investments into a single plan in an attempt to focus the various initiatives on building the infrastructure most supportive of a network based on planned urban centres and connecting them together.

Working together the combination of various levels of government, the residents and voters of Southern Ontario, and the business community can build a well connected Toronto by 2050, where transit is a viable option for far more trips than it is today. It will take the governments coordinating their projects to avoid rework and to find savings on combined construction contracts, the electorate to ensure elected officials support transit and land use plans that would make this plan viable, and the business community to seize the opportunity and focus development and investments around planned transit hubs and stations.

Already Built

Four of the five surface rail routes proposed in this plan already have GO train services running over them today. Line A (Lakeshore Line) which is the merger of the existing Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West lines, Line B (Valley Line) which is the merger of the Milton and Richmond Hill lines, Line C (Airport Line) which is the merger of the Kitchener and Stouffville lines, and Line D (Barrie Line) all exist today and this plan builds on that starting point.

Three of the four metros or subways in this plan already exist today. Line 1 (Yonge University Line), and Line 2 (Bloor Danforth Line) would largely remain the same with some minor to moderate line extensions to both ends of each line. Line 4 (Sheppard Line), which was always intended to be a much longer line than it is, would be the starting point for a northern crosstown route.

Starting with what we have today and using that as a well connected core of what exists tomorrow is key to this transit plan. Therefore many aspects of this plan are already built.

Nearing Opening Day

Two of the LRT lines (out of the six proposed across the GTHA) are set to open in 2025. Line 5 (Crosstown Line) will run from Mount Dennis to Kennedy providing connections to three surface rail lines (two on opening day) and both the Line 1 and Line 2 subways. Line 6 (Finch Line) connects northern Etobicoke as far west as Humber College at Highway 27 to Line 1 (Yonge University Line) at Elia station (currently named Finch West). In total 2025 will add two new LRT lines totaling 30 km in length between them, and add 38 brand new stops or stations to Toronto's network. For some aspects of this plan, we are nearing opening day.

Under Construction

Shovels (and tunnel boring machines) are in the ground building a new new subway line, a new LRT line, an extension to an existing subway line, an extension to an LRT line that hasn't even opened yet, and building the infrastructure required for a major expansion of the capacity of the existing surface rail network.

Subways will continue to be the transit solution for high capacity transportation within the city between urban neighbourhoods. Line 2 (Bloor Danforth Line) extension is under construction with the tunnel boring machine launched from East Village (Sheppard East & McCowan) and heading towards the line's current terminus at Kennedy. Line 3 (Ontario Line) is under construction with major excavation underway at many future station sites and work progressing well to ready the sites where tunnel boring machines will be launched.

For local but high ridership routes, LRT, or light-rail transit is the solution. Line 5 (Crosstown Line) has a westward extension under construction with the majority of tunnelling complete on this grade separated extension to Renforth. Line 10 (Hazel McCallion Line) is well under construction and will provide service from Port Credit through Mississauga Centre to the south side of Brampton, following Hurontario Street which is the historic southern end of old Highway 10.

Lastly, but possibly most importantly, the surface rail lines Line A (Lakeshore Line), Line C (Airport Line), and Line D (Barrie Line) all have corridor expansions underway to add more tracks to allow more trains. This will allow them to evolve into a mix of high frequency local Urban services, suburban services that more quickly travel across the GTA, and regional services that take people out of the city into neighbouring regions.

In summary, the transit system of the future is under construction now.

Advanced Design & Procurement

Many of the transit lines described in this plan are going through high-level design, environmental assessments, and are into or have recently completed the procurement process. These are the next projects that will see major construction.

First, the surface rail network is undergoing a massive upgrade that will eventually include electrification that will increase the acceleration and reduce trip times on the system while reducing local greenhouse emissions. The expansion includes a myriad of stations, referred to as the SmartTrack stations, being added to the sections of the lines which will see urban service and further increases in the corridor carrying capacity. There is an expansion of the Lakeshore line to Bowmanville, and more stations in the Niagara Region. Also, there is a continued expansion and realignment of Union Station's platforms to support more frequent services across all lines.

The subway system will see another extension with Line 1 (Yonge University Line) being extended north from Finch, a part of the urban North York Centre to a new urban core at the Richmond Hill / Langstaff Gateway Centre.

Lastly, the LRT network will add Line 8 (Hamilton Line) to the GTAH inventory. Line 8 will run from McMaster University to Stoney Creek on King Street, Main Street, and Queenston Road, historically named Highway 8.

The design and procurement process related to the next generation of transit expansions within the GTAH is well underway and getting close to starting construction.

Well Studied

The next set of network expansions called for in the plan are the network components that have been studied and proposed, in some cases many times over the past few decades. As we build out the transit system of the future, these plans need to come off the drawing board and into advanced design and procurement.

On the topic of surface rail expansion there are a number of extensions and enhancements proposed. One of the most important projects in this category is a partnership with the federal government and the GTAA to build the rail corridor that will service Pearson Airport and deliver what will be one of the most important transportation hubs in the region. Also, stations will be added around the GTAH and surrounding region to support better local connections and greater connectivity as electrified rail services begin. A new limited service line, Line E (Bolton Line) would be launched for quicker trips for commuters to downtown and to begin the process of building demand in new areas. Regional rail service to London would be reinstated, rail service to Peterborough launched, and greater frequencies to Niagara Falls would occur due to major infrastructure investments to these corridors, partially through federal investments related to Alto high-speed rail and investments related to the St Lawrence Seaway.

Subway expansions fall into this oft-studied and yet to be delivered category of projects and completing these is critical to the plan. These include a Line 2 (Bloor Danforth Line) extension to Sherway which has been a part of Toronto's official plan for decades with a 1991 environmental assessment, a Line 3 (Ontario Line) extension to Sheppard which was initially studied as part of the Downtown Relief Line, a Line 4 (Sheppard Line) extension east to Scarborough Centre which also completed an environmental assessment back in 1992 and was part of Scarborough's official plan. All of these subway extensions which were considered priorities decades ago need to move forward with extensions even further.

A number of LRT lines also fall into the well studied category and need to move forward as part of this plan. These include the Line 10 (Hazel McCallion Line) underground extension to Brampton Centre, Line 11 (Escarpment Line) which is part of the Hamilton BLAST network plan, and a Line 5 (Crosstown) extension into Scarborough often referred to as the Eglinton East LRT.

One aspect of the transit investment that needs to occur and isn't core to the GTA Transit 2050 Plan but also falls into this category as long studied transit projects requiring funding is the Waterfront East LRT which is an important extension to the current tram network connecting new urban neighbourhoods to Union and East Harbour stations.

Without much need for study at all, there is a long list of projects ready to be moved from well studied to advanced design and procurement.

Organic Expansions

The last critical part of this transportation plan is to continue extensions and service expansions to the core network that is well defined in the deliverables discussed above. Extending lines to cross other lines rather than building completely new ones creates a network that is greater than the sum of its parts. More opportunities to transfer but less end-of-the-line forced transfers means more trips will occur faster, and the network has greater redundancy during service outages or alternate routes to avoid crowding.

On the surface rail network this organic expansion means using the existing lines to their full potential with urban services through the core part of the network providing service that could easily be considered an above-ground subway, and ensuring that as subway lines and LRT lines are built and extended that high quality connections between lines which protect transit riders from the elements is included in the design.

Organic expansion of the subway system includes extending lines to their natural terminus at urban or town centres, connecting lines, or well placed bus terminals. For the Line 3 (Ontario Line) this means completing the loop replacing the VIVA BRT route on Highway 7 with faster (up to 80 km/h) fully grade separated transit through the core of York Region. For Line 4 (the Sheppard Line) it means providing another connection to Pearson Airport and replacing part of the Durham Region DART network to connect Scarborough Centre to Pickering Centre via University of Toronto at Scarborough.

The LRT system would be expanded to have Line 5 (Crosstown Line) provide direct transfer free service to Mississauga Centre, Line 6 (Finch Line) reach major Renforth transit hub in the west and University of Toronto at Scarborough in the east, and replace the busiest bus route in Brampton with Line 9 (Bramalea Line).

Through organic transfer free extensions with more connections to more lines, the network becomes whole.

The Call to Action

To make transit happen, transit needs to be important to the electorate, the various levels of government, and the business community. The electorate must care enough that they vote for parties and politicians that agree transit is a high priority for investment and demonstrate the importance of transit by not delaying investments for years and decades. The politicians need to care enough that they are willing to work beyond the interests of their local riding or city ward, beyond their party affiliation, beyond their level of government, so that they are ensuring that the three levels of government plus their agencies like Metrolinx, municipal transit agencies, and other agencies like the GTAA, and Alto are working together to invest in transit effectively and with urgency. Lastly, the business community needs to ensure their voice is heard as well, including businesses which would benefit from employee mobility, businesses that would benefit from construction work, and businesses that would benefit from greater foot traffic and customers being able to reach them more easily.

The GTA Transit 2050 Plan is not some far fetched idea. It is a collection of what exists, what is about to open, what is under construction, what is in detailed design and procurement, what has been studied by government and transportation agencies for decades, and extensions and capacity expansions to the lines that already exist. Let's make transit happen for the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding regions!

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