12-11-2016, 05:59 PM
(12-11-2016, 05:37 PM)Drake Wrote: ...
Why does this always come back to cars? It is like a reflexive response like somehow we are trained to believe this is a fact.
I would think that the obvious advantages for a monorail system would include speed of the trips and the safety of the system.
It's not a reflexive response, it's an appropriate one. I mean, unless you believe that above or below a subway on King St. the extra street space would be turned into bike lanes, side walks, and parks? No, it would be turned into vehicle lanes.
I'm not suggesting that you or even anyone (besides the former Mayor of Toronto) who argues for a subway or an elevated system is advocating additional subsidies for cars.
There are obviously other advantages. But probably not as substantial as you think. LRTs operate safely all over the world, in highly pedestrianized areas. I really don't think there's a big safety advantage. There might be some speed advantage. But certainly many people might think about this when suggesting grade separation. There are also disadvantages.
And certainly some segments of the population just like the idea of grade separation, in terms of cool factor.
But when you get to the economics of it, without regard for feelings or emotions, an LRT system as we are building is a good fit for our city, in terms of capacity needs and space needs. If you were to build a subway instead the effect would be to subsidize more space for cars. That's simply the economics of it.