I see it as a very good thing that we are seeing so much TOD on GO - I'd like to see as high a proportion as possible, because I think scaling GO capacity long term will be much easier than scaling rapid transit capacity - especially on lines like Eglinton. Given a big portion of the Kitchener, Lakeshore West and Inner Lakeshore East corridors are quad track we really ought to be focusing density their, since the potential capacity long term is truly enormous, especially since the platforms are incredibly long. (Imagine a 12 car suburban EMU - that would be enormous even by international standards, but might be something we see in a few decades). While I see building new subways to meet transit demand as something which will face more political and cost barriers - scaling up GO capacity should not have this issue, and there is a lot of places where we can reuse that knowledge long term - midtown line, an improved Richmond Hill line with a better alignment, upgraded Milton Line and also perhaps in upgrading EXO.
Regarding the actual development of TOD around stations - I do wish we had a model like BC, so that density would be focused right at the station and taper as you travel away (how much it tapers is another question), I am not opposed to more density overall of course, but I want the densest development as close to the station as possible and a taper probably would look nice.
With regard to last mile access to GO stations, the removal of local transit fares within Toronto when connecting to GO, will probably have a big impact. And for what its worth, mode shift to GO for transit has doubled in the last 8 years or so - from 10ish% to 20ish% - we likely have Brampton to thank.
This was a very good piece. A few comments:
I see it as a very good thing that we are seeing so much TOD on GO - I'd like to see as high a proportion as possible, because I think scaling GO capacity long term will be much easier than scaling rapid transit capacity - especially on lines like Eglinton. Given a big portion of the Kitchener, Lakeshore West and Inner Lakeshore East corridors are quad track we really ought to be focusing density their, since the potential capacity long term is truly enormous, especially since the platforms are incredibly long. (Imagine a 12 car suburban EMU - that would be enormous even by international standards, but might be something we see in a few decades). While I see building new subways to meet transit demand as something which will face more political and cost barriers - scaling up GO capacity should not have this issue, and there is a lot of places where we can reuse that knowledge long term - midtown line, an improved Richmond Hill line with a better alignment, upgraded Milton Line and also perhaps in upgrading EXO.
Regarding the actual development of TOD around stations - I do wish we had a model like BC, so that density would be focused right at the station and taper as you travel away (how much it tapers is another question), I am not opposed to more density overall of course, but I want the densest development as close to the station as possible and a taper probably would look nice.
With regard to last mile access to GO stations, the removal of local transit fares within Toronto when connecting to GO, will probably have a big impact. And for what its worth, mode shift to GO for transit has doubled in the last 8 years or so - from 10ish% to 20ish% - we likely have Brampton to thank.
what an exciting time!