全长60至80公里 成本约24亿元.轻铁贯通多伦多 蓝图今公布
星报通讯社电/联邦政府下周一发表财政预算案之际，多伦多公车局(TTC)将于周五(今天)向外界揭示雄心勃勃的轻便铁路系统蓝图。根据该个发展蓝图，轻便铁路线将纵横交叉遍布整个多伦多市，甚至超越现有及计划中的各条地铁行车线。
TTC主席赞邦尼(Adam Giambrone)表示，全长60至80公里的轻便铁路网的兴建成本约为24亿元。
仍未筹足兴建费
知情人士指出，计划将可促使公车服务范围差不多伸延至多伦多每个角落。它预期将会非常接近市长苗大伟(David Miller)去年秋季在他的竞选政纲中勾划出来的发展蓝图（见附表），亦即沿着湖滨、雪柏大道(Sheppard Ave.)、芬治大道(Finch Ave.)及士嘉堡轻铁(Scarborough Rapid Transit)以北一带兴建轻便铁路。
但问题是，市府目前并未拥有足够经费。
赞邦尼指出，周五公布的发展蓝图差不多是1项实施方案，当中包括确实时间表及成本开支。但他表示：“我们会受到强大压力，在现有环保评估下，于10年内兴建整个轻便铁路网络。”
他并且表示，市府期望可在分享汽油税款的协助下开展计划。
兴建速度较地铁快
总理哈珀及安省省长麦坚迪上周承诺拨款大约10亿元改善地区公共交通服务。但随着财政预算案将于日内公布、联邦大选及省选即将举行，以及公众人士对环保问题前所未见般关注，一些交通运输专家指出，有机会看到有关当局将会投放更多经费发展公车服务。
该个TTC蓝图可减低交通挤塞及污染，并令公车服务成为更多上下班人士的可行交通选择，但整项发展所涉及的开支却十分庞大。
市议员亚殊顿(Brian Ashton)指出，兴建每1公里轻便铁路行车线需费大约3千万元，远低于兴建每1公里地铁行车线的大约2.5亿元至3亿元，兴建速度亦更快。那是TTC将发展重点转移至轻便铁路的其中部分原因。
苗大伟去秋竞选政纲交通蓝图
苗大伟于去秋的竞选政纲中提及在多个指定公用事业用地内让轻便铁路列车行走，作为公车服务网络其中部分，当中包括：
*使用部分电力公司用地，在芬治大道划出公车走廊，将士嘉堡北面及怡陶碧谷北面接驳至地铁线；
*兴建1条湖滨西行线，将怡陶碧谷连接至联合地站(Union Station)；
*兴建1条连接雪柏地铁站与士嘉堡购物中心(Scarborough Town Centre)之间的行车线；
*延长士嘉堡轻铁线至士嘉堡西北面。由于士嘉堡轻铁线到了2011年左右将会变得残旧不堪，那将成为1项涉及独立策划程序的议题。
*在介乎芬治大道与史刁大道(Steeles Ave.)之间的央街(Yonge St.)路段划出巴士专用线；
*在介乎维多利亚公园大道(Victoria Park Ave.)与艾灵顿道(Eglinton Ave.)之间的京士顿路(Kingston Road)一段划出巴士专用线；
*沿着艾灵顿道西(Eglinton Ave. W.)兴建1条轻便铁路专用线，将圣克莱(St. Clair)公车用地连接至机场。
公车局耗24亿发展轻轨车
计划长达10年 完成后贯通多市东西南北
【明报专讯】多伦多公车局定于今天宣布一个在多市大规模建设公交网络的巨大型计划。该计划将在多伦多建造60到80公里的轻轨车，以便大大加快公车的运行速度和可靠性，增强对于乘客的吸引力。
整个计划的实施可能需要10年时间，耗资20多亿元。
公车局主席张本力(Adam Giambrone)昨天表示，公车局对于这个计划，已经筹划了一段时间。计划是在多伦多一些繁忙的马路上，修建街车专用轨道，就象士巴丹拿道上的轨道，和目正在建的圣卡拉路上的街车专用轨道。
选定的马路包括:
．芬治路线是在现有芬治路北面的输电走廊附近发展贯通士嘉堡北面和怡陶碧谷北面的轻轨车，把之接驳到公车局的地铁线。
．沿艾灵顿西路兴建轻便铁路(RT)，联结到圣卡拉路的街车线，这条路线亦会驳通到皮尔逊国际机场。
．在多市靠近湖滨的西面兴建怡陶碧谷线驳通市中心联合车站。
．联结雪柏路地铁站至Scarborough Town Centre的延线。
．把Scarborough Town Centre的轻便铁路(RT)驳通至士嘉堡东北面。
如果人们对这些路段感到熟悉，那是因为公车局数年来一直计划在这些路段上开辟公车专线，而且它们也都上了苗大伟的市长竞选政纲。
张本力说，整个计划是要把多伦多变成一座公交城市。计划实施完成后，不拥有私家车的司机，就不会感到特别的不方便了。
他说，在市区建立高速公路显然不现实，因此建立公交专线，就成为首选。
他又说，今天公布的计划，可能还有些令人惊讶的地方。
修建这些街车轨道需要耗费20多亿元的经费，多伦多市府自然无力承担。张本力表示，如果有了周详的计划，可以期待联邦和省政府的拨款。就像多伦多延伸到旺市的地铁线一样，该线路上周刚刚获得联邦的拨款。
右翼的市议员黄旻南对于这个即将公布的公交计划表示不满意。他认为，这样做，可能造成多伦多街头交通的更加拥挤，令到那些必须开车的市民，遇到更大的困难。
公车局的官员声称，铺设街车轨道，每公里的价格只需要建设地铁轨道的十分之一。因此，铺设街车轨道，似乎成了唯一的选择。
发展轻轨车每公里的造价是3000万元，若以兴建80公里计算，工程的总开支是24亿元。
TTC rail web would crisscross city
Mar 16, 2007 11:43 AM
Tess Kalinowski
John Spears
Staff Reporters
Only three days before the federal government is to release its budget, the Toronto Transit Commission unveiled an ambitious blueprint today for a light rail system that would crisscross the city far beyond existing and planned subway lines.
The 60- to 80-kilometre web of light rail would cost about $6 billion.
The plan would improve transit access to virtually every corner of Toronto and move 175 million people a year, a third of whom would be new transit users, TTC chair Adam Giambrone said at a press conference this morning.
However, TTC officials admitted that even if the federal and provincial governments kicked in two thirds of the cost, cash-strapped Toronto would still be hard-pressed to pay its share – as much as $400 million a year for as long as 15 years.
And they acknowledged that there is no commitment for funding from higher levels of government.
The plan calls for seven light rail lines, covering 120 kilometres of the city, employing an additional 250 new model streetcars, Giambrone said.
“No Torontonian should be disadvantaged because they don’t own a car,” he told the city hall press conferenc, adding that the new network would connect neighbourhoods currently unserved by transit.
“It’s not just about getting downtown,” he said.
The plan unveiled this morning includes most of the lines outlined in Mayor David Miller’s election platform, but includes others. For example:
An Eglinton Ave. line running almost the width of the city, from Scarborough to Etobicoke. The section from Laird Dr., which is just east of Bayview Ave., to Dufferin St., would be underground.
A Scarborough Malvern line would swing north and east from the Eglinton line into northeastern Scarborough.
A line along Jane St., connecting both the Finch Ave. W. line and the Bloor-Danforth line.
The hitch?
Giambrone stopped short of calling today’s announcement an implementation plan with firm schedules and costs.
But he said, “You’d be hard-pressed to build an entire light rail network, looking at the existing environmental assessments, in under 10 years.”
He also said the city expects to move ahead with the help of a share of gasoline taxes.
That would be in addition to a substantial slice of the $2 billion federal transit strategy for which Miller and other big city mayors were calling last week.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty pledged about $1 billion last week for regional transit improvements. But with a budget, federal and provincial elections looming, and unprecedented public concern for the environment, some transportation experts say there’s hope more money will flow for transit.
“There’s a tremendous amount of concerted, multilateral pressure that I’ve never seen before,” said transportation consultant Ed Levy.
The mayor’s election platform spoke about light rail vehicles running on dedicated rights of way as part of a network of transit lines, including:
A dedicated transit corridor on Finch Ave., in part utilizing the hydro right of way, to connect north Scarborough and north Etobicoke to the subway.
A west waterfront line linking Etobicoke to Union Station.
A line connecting the Sheppard subway with Scarborough Town Centre.
A dedicated bus line on Yonge St. from Finch Ave. to Steeles Ave.
A dedicated bus line on Kingston Rd. from Victoria Park Ave. to Eglinton Ave.
Building a dedicated rapid transit line along Eglinton Ave. W., connecting the St. Clair transit right of way to the airport.
The TTC blueprint could reduce traffic congestion and pollution and make transit a viable option for more commuters, but it represents a significant expense.
Light rail, which costs about $30 million a kilometre, can be built faster and cheaper than subways, which cost about $250 million to $300 million per kilometre.
That’s part of the reason the TTC has shifted its emphasis to light rail, said Councillor Brian Ashton, who is also a member of the Greater Toronto Transit Authority.
“It’s cheaper and it also begins to reflect on the suburban reality,” he said.
As the city tries to curb sprawl and intensifies development along the avenues of strip malls in Etobicoke and Scarborough, “light rail or street cars become the solution,” he said.
He called the subway extension, which will bring the Spadina line two stops into York Region, a signal of how transit will need to connect with Toronto’s neighbours in future.
Scarborough councillors yesterday said they’re prepared to wait for a subway as long as the TTC goes ahead with interim improvements to the SRT and delivers better service in north Scarborough, particularly in Morningside Heights.
“If (the TTC plan) doesn’t incorporate that, you will be hearing about that,” said Councillor Michael Thompson.
The city is already planning an extensive refurbishment of the SRT by 2015, including 44 new cars.
That’s expected to cost between $300 million and $500 million, rather than the $1.2 billion it would cost to add two subway stops, he said.
“We want a spider web of mass transit to touch every corner of Scarborough,” said Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, who referred to today’s announcement as “a miracle plan.”
“This plan that’s coming out (today) extends that spider web to every single inch of the city of Toronto. It puts new transit facilities in every single ward,” he said.
“If you have LRT from one end of the city to the other, it’s going to be spectacular.”
It could also present an opportunity to consider buying two distinct types of streetcars – compact ones for downtown routes, and larger ones in more suburban areas, said Councillor Adam Vaughan.
“You’ve got two very different streetscapes.”
With narrow streets and high demand for frequent service, the TTC should consider running smaller streetcars that can more easily negotiate turns and slide into underground stations, he said.
For suburban routes, bigger and roomier vehicles might be useful on less frequent but reliably timed routes, he suggested.
Historically, the TTC has been reluctant to buy differing vehicles, Vaughan said.
“It’s always one size fits all. But this could be the time to change the thinking.”
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/192608
TTC unveils ambitious transit plan
Friday, March 16, 2007 – 01:16 PM
By: 680News staff
Toronto – The TTC has announced a $2.4-billion plan Friday to make light rail transit a priority.
According to TTC chair Adam Giambrone, the proposal is slated to include the construction of between 60 and 80 kilometres of track that will intersect various areas of the city, providing transit access to every corner of Toronto.
The system is expected to include dedicated rights of way for the light rail vehicles, a key promise in Mayor David Miller’s election platform.
The plan will cost less per kilometre than a subway, and the city is hoping the federal government will come up with a large portion of the funding.
The TTC blueprint could reduce traffic congestion and pollution and make transit a viable option for more commuters, but it represents a major expense.
The cost of building light rapid transit lines is about $30-million a kilometre, putting the price tag for an 80-kilometre system at $2.4 billion.
The city expects to move ahead with the help of a share of gasoline taxes, Giambrone said.
According to TTC chair Adam Giambrone, it will take an estimated 10 years to get the project in place.
The announcement comes one week after Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty announced last week they would spend close to $1-billion to improve transit in GTA, including extending the Spadina subway line.
Although electric train lines are a lot cheaper to build than subway lines, some drivers are not too keen on sharing the roads with light rail transit, which runs above ground.
While some drivers like the idea of extending transit, they said it will add to the already existing traffic on the roads.
