Everyone, from Steve Munro and Stephen Rees to the community at the Urban Toronto Forum, seems to be talking about a very interesting article that appeared in the Globe and Mail today. Referencing the work of Professor Patrick Condon, senior researcher at the Design Centre for Sustainability, University of British Columbia, David Beers discusses some very interesting findings in the sustainability of different modes of travel.

Vancouver has a plan to extend one of their Sky Train lines from the downtown core to the University of British Columbia campus at a cost of $2.8 billion, and while this is a missing link in their network, there have been many calls to consider other technologies, such as the same European-style trams being considered for use in the City of Toronto. There’s no question that more lines could be built for the same price tag if trams are used, but the Sky Train (the next evolution of our Scarborough RT) has a speed advantage that is very difficult to ignore in today’s fast-paced society. (more…)

Jason Paris unleashed a firestorm in raising the now-decades old DRL theme for discussion here, and among other comments was the issue of subway alignment, as there are now several to evaluate for the DRL. So what influences alignment for new subways to be constructed?

Historically, while alignments would generally follow streets, as often as possible they tried to avoid going directly under the street, as service relocations and temporary decking for existing streetcar services, not to mention road replacement when the decking was removed, were huge hassles that came at great cost.  Expropriating properties was far cheaper, easier, and timely.  This was why the Yonge subway was not built beneath Yonge between Alexander (just north of College) and, I believe, Orchard View (just north of Eglinton), except for the part where it crosses to the other side of Yonge around Glen Elm (just north of St. Clair).  Apart from the portion between Church and Sherbourne bored directly beneath Bloor St., the Prince Edward Viaduct, and Sherbourne station, the Bloor-Danforth subway was kept entirely north of Bloor and Danforth proper (excluding the extension to Kipling).

However, attitudes of both property owners and those of and towards labourers changed, which in turn impacted what subway construction methods became acceptable.

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