This thread seems dead, but I altered some more maps so strap yourself in. Let me know if there's a more recent thread, but I didn't see one
Recently I got a bit curious about Toronto's subway and other rapid transit plans, and in the process found a map somebody had put together of all existing subway stops. I edited this map to be up to date and included several planned high-priority expansions, as well as a new subway line that construction will begin on soon. This new line will give me far better & easier access to BMO Field, when I visit Toronto.. which was another motivation for this project. I'm a visual person and wanted to see what sort of doors the planned rapid transit infrastructure would open for me on future visits.
- The red line is the new relief line that construction will begin on soon. It will be 16km / 10 miles long (for context).
- The purple line is about half as long as on this map, it does not yet connect with the green line in the east
- The green line is at the moment a bit shorter in the east as well, the last 3 subway stops don't yet exist. Instead there is an LRT system there that will end up being mothballed.
- The top 6 stops on the right-hand side of the orange U-shaped line don't yet exist. Instead that stretch of the Yonge street corridor is currently serviced by a BRT line using dedicated lanes.
So that's the subway situation.. But it got me thinking.. Over the last couple years Toronto had been building a much needed cross-town light rapid transit (LRT) line. Half of it is underground so it's
sort of like a subway, but LRT vehicles are smaller and a bit slower than subway vehicles.. They all run in dedicated lanes, so as a passenger you are getting a transportation method that will never get stuck in traffic either way, so.. As such, I got to work adding this new line to my map.. and also ended up adding all the other LRT lines in Toronto and nearby cities... and two LRT lines that are high priority projects for the city and seem inevitable
There are only so many colours that stand out nicely on a map like this, so don't be tempted to think that two lines with the same colour have anything in common. I also turned off individual stops in this view, for obvious reasons.
- The blue LRT line in the east is what the green subway line extension will end up eliminating when it's built. On this map you can see both
- The black line is the Eglinton Crosstown LRT that's currently under construction and IIRC almost complete. Only the eastern 75% of it is being built right now; the expansion to the airport is high-priority though.
- The purple line in the west (near the airport) is the Finch LRT line that is due to be finished next year.
- The lone green line in the south-west is the Hurontario LRT in the nearby city of Mississauga (Toronto's little brother)
- There are two vertical/north/south LRT lines on this map that don't yet exist, one on each side of the U-shaped subway line. They are high priority projects that will connect transit lines and hubs.
But wait, there's more! Bus Rapid Transit systems can be almost as effective as LRT systems. Buses are a bit smaller and travel a bit slower than LRT vehicles, but if they have their own dedicated lanes, then they will never get stuck in traffic either. So.. I went to work to add all the BRT systems in the region to my map.. including several in the planning stages that seem high priority as well.
- Right off the bat let me explain that Hamilton
thinks that it is Toronto's little brother. The red line is their under construction LRT line. They are also planning BRT lines, but the plans don't seem set in stone so I didn't add them.
- The two lines stretching way west (black) and way east (red) do not exist yet, but are high priority projects with planned stations, environmental assessment done, etc.
- There are plans for more more BRT routes north of the existing ones, near where you see Vaughan and Richmond Hill on the map, but they don't seem set in stone yet, so I didn't add them either.
- Not much to say about the other BRT lines other that they all connect to existing hubs and form a nice "can't get stuck in traffic" rapid transit network in the whole
Golden Horseshoe. And if you look closely you can see that a lot of them tend to end at boundaries between municipalities
On top of all this there is also a 526km long regional commuter rail network servicing this whole region with
7 lines and 68 stations. If you see any of the lines on my maps ending in odd places, chances are they are connecting up with a GO Rail station. This GO rail network extends to areas beyond this map that you can't see, but basically just nearby cities, for commuting to/from work type scenarios. That's how Hamilton and Niagara falls are connected to Toronto, while on the above map they might seem a bit disconnected from a public transit pov.
On top of that GO also has a fleet of 517 commuter buses that fill in the gaps and stop at many GO Rail stations, plus 15 bus specific GO Transit stations.. Some of these routes run in dedicated lanes and so I should probably eventually add them to my map.. but these are sort of longer-distance bus routes that might belong in their own category. There is one being planned that spans the entire region from east to west.
If you've actually read all this and are now thinking: "So why is the airport not really that well connected to this network?
GREAT QUESTION
There is a plan to build a large transit hub right at the airport that a bunch of these lines would connect to. But.. details are vague right now and all those other projects are getting priority. The airport has never been connected well. Ten years ago I had to sit on a 45 minute long bus ride, which took me to a subway station an HOUR away from the city core.. These days there is an express rail link from downtown to the airport in place.. which I should actually probably add to this map too (since it has 3 stops that connect up to various parts of the network)
