What I Would Build in Toronto | Crayoning with Reece 

FYI the Mississauga transitway was designed to be converted into LRT in the future if possible, no modifications to bridge heights, etc would need to happen. They calculated everything to make sure an LRT would fit

PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE make this a running series and do it for other cities in Canada, and the world! Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa would be great starts!

One thing I would add is a northern extension of the Ontario line to Finch. This would act as further relief to the overcrowded Yonge line and would connect Seneca college to the network. This would also be a primarily elevated extension.

The thumbnail reminded me of when I was a kid in the 80s. After a family trip to NY I brought back a subway map and thought the TTC Ride Guide needed to look more like New York’s and went to town with my crayons.

One thing thats important to note about extending the Yonge Line to RHC is that it provides the Yonge Line with a direct connection to the High Frequency bus corridor along Highway 407. Even if it doesn't make sense for YR, this is a project I think GO themselves have been pushing for this strongly especially since the Highway 407 transitway is in the works.

What do you think of my dream projects? What’s on your Toronto transit wish list? Let us know down in the comments! Edit: Folks want this for other cities, ask and ye shall receive!

Really creative but thoughtful ideas! Obsessed with the Malvern->STC->North York->York U route! Very connective.

Crayoning, verb (Crayonista, noun) - Performing strategic transport planning with a box of coloured crayons, using them to draw lines on a map without thinking of the implications. Created by the excellent London Reconnections blog! Reece what you’re doing isn’t crayoning because it has some .. reality in it! You’re not proposing an extension of the subway to Pickering 😂

I cringe when I think that Sheppard West and Sheppard Yonge are still not connected by Line 4.

Your plan sounds much more reasonable than the governments current plan. I especially liked your proposal of the Sheppard line as well.

Definitely agree with you here Reese, I feel like so much money is being poured into North of the city when the West (peel) is far more hungry for rapid transit to the core. What are we in Mississauga and Brampton getting in the next 5 years? A North-South LRT and increased GO service? Phoey

TTC should hire you!

I think that the Yonge subway extension makes sense because it removes the awkward station wait period for viva blue. It will be a substantially smoother transfer. I get Steeles though.

I live near Birchmount and Sheppard and I'd love to see an extension on line 4 Eastbound. Having to be crammed into an 85 bus is just ridiculous. Plus if it connects to Line 2 that'd even be better.

would love to see you do the same thing but without the budget constraints! just everything you would love to see

Great video - generally agree with your suggestions. Definitely appreciate the love for the Sheppard Line, it is much needed

This video was very enjoyable because you didn't have a script and there wasn't a cut every sentence. The analysis was well thought out. More videos like this

Great video, love your stuff! One thing I would change is to extend line 2 (or maybe line 5) to University of Toronto Scarborough. Its one of the fastest growing schools in Toronto and has absolutely horrible connectivity. I have to take a bus and switch at Guildwood Go, Kenendy, or Scarborough Town to get downtown, and that trip is decently long. It feels like if you don't have a car, UTSC is the most inaccessible out of all the post-secondary institutions.

Someone else mentioned a no-budget version of this video, but I'm also interested. What would you do if you had a clean slate in Toronto. We still had all the streets in roughly the same alighmments, same neighborhoods, same everything, just no TTC or GO. How different would the subway map look?

Would love to see a dream-build video for Toronto transit. If you had carte blanche and there were no previously existing transit-ways, subways etc. in Toronto, what would you do?

The TTC needs to see this, This is amazing!

Very nicely done and more practical than many fantasy maps I have seen.

Since Adam Giambrone left the TTC I've felt that it and the Metrolinx planning table. You make some very good points on useful project changes and or addons. If it can be done , space allowing, HK style cross platform line changes, drastically decrease travel time and frustrations, and are a safer less disruptive option than signals to merger "heavy"/active trains. In addition adding on smart stopping and gate systems on the platforms increase safety and cuing for trains, further reducing stress of traveling on mass rail. Also: powerline utility workers have already been seen at the 404 and Sheppard working on the grid required for the Sheppard extension (east) project.

I wonder whether ordinary citizens of Toronto would share your enthusiasm for elevated structures -even though they are much cheaper than tunnels. Elevated lines are visually very intrusive. and there may also be worries about noise in residential areas. On a more positive note, I would strongly agree with your emphasis on providing good transit links to Universities.

i would rather do the approach by having a station within 800m-1km of every residential zone

I recently caught myself watching your transit videos for hours, so informative for the future. I don't have a mobile phone but if I did I'd probably watch your videos on the bus and subway for hours too since I haven't renewed my license and take transit exclusively. Instead I just look out the window at the trees in Scarborough when I'm on line 2, and on the bus routes too. Good wishes, I can tell you more than love reporting on transit around the World. I certainly love the videos you do on the Toronto/Ontario transit.

I have seen many of your videos about the TTC transit system and the videos your in I am very impressed with your TTC transit videos and your amazing knowledge about making the TTC transit system way more efficient with subway extension lines and your other impressive transit videos about other transit systems in other cities in Canada and around the world !

I really love this video! Hearing your opinion is like a very well educated Fantasy Subway map and I would love to see more cities like this. Especially cities with new or not currently existing projects like Ottawa, Kitchener, Hamilton, Guelph, Kingston Ect. Love hearing the opinion of someone who knows a lot on this topic.

Doing the work to connect Sheppard should be done before the Richmond hill ext in my opinion... Having a rail route from vmc to Scarborough would be a relief off line 1 as well, don't stop the Ontario line at eg for another 20 years keep it going up to Don mills and line 5 and line 6 should meet at the airport transit hub a station with 4 or more platforms. The TTC is gonna have to invest in connecting missing links in it's system

the Shepard line projects i agree makes a lot of sense and would be really useful

I'd love to see the same video but for GO's network!

I'm a Torontonian and have lived downtown for the past 30 years. I can't imagine what all those folks from the outer suburbs must deal with in their daily commute, whether it's to get downtown, or travel downtown to transfer to a line going out in another direction, where they work! Some days it feels like everyone in the GTA is standing on the same subway platform as I am. The way transit in this city is laid out, you might just as well say you can't get there from here. What I see is successive governments coming to power (ahem!), erasing what transit was planned, against the advice of the transit authorities and urban planners that they paid to create a cohesive system -and replacing it with what the current power brokers would like to see. That includes much of what you have discussed it this video. I applaud your efforts in trying to pull all these loose ends together, but I suspect that we won't see much positive change until this governmental meddling in planning and concepts, clearly beyond their understanding, has somehow been controlled.

Hope this is a running series across all cities across the world, not just Canada! I’ve been doing this for London since I was about 4 or 5, would love for you to do it and compare what I’ve thought of!

One more suggestion would be to extend the Ontario line north so it meets the Sheppard line at Don Mills

I did the same thing as you did but in my hometown of Edmonton!

I love your ideas! The one thing I would add is to take the Finch LRT to the airport, but that is more $$$

Surely, if you were supreme leader of the Province of Ontario (or something along those lines), York Regional Transit would either be made to run decent bus services connecting to the subway or replaced with an all-in-one GTA/GTHA public transport authority that would? Therefore the argument against the full Richmond Hill Centre extension is removed.

As a Mississauga resident, love the idea you have for the Line 5 connectivity (as well for keeping the grade separation consistent)

Sheapperd West and Sheppard East are both planned with Metrolinx as a prerequisite to construction of the Yonge North expansion. As well a station in the Distillery District is currently being discussed within the TTC in order to boost movement to the east side of Downtown

I still think joining line2 and line4 at Sheppard/McCowan to create another U line would be best and avoids a transfer like you’ve previously complained about ;) Agreed on interlining Sheppard to Vaughan. Being able to get a one seat ride from VCC to STC or even down to the beaches would be amazing.

The proposed tunnel section on the Mississauga Transitway at Hurontario and Rathburn cannot be built because of the underground storm water siphon of Cooksville Creek located there. This is what the engineers advised me when I queried about driving the Hurontario LRT underground in that area at a PIC back in late June 2012 and subsequently. Like most engineering question marks, it can be done but the cost is prohibitive.

I hope you do this for Vancouver too. Great video.

great video, here are some comments! -The Sheppard West extension has to pass under a deep valley so a tunnel would be very expensive. My idea is turn south, go elevated down Yonge, provide a station at Avondale for the condos there, then use the 401 ROW until you hit Wilson and continue along elevated until Wilson station. -Extending Sheppard East should just take it elevated all the way to Malvern, no need for Line 2 to go all that way too. Instead I would consider extending Line 2 north of Sheppard/McCowan to some of the dense developments up there such as the Woodside redevelopment planned. -Surprised you didn't mention an Ontario Line extension! I would run it elevated on Don Mills to Sheppard (Fairview Mall) and then use the 404 ROW to get north to the massive employment zone in Markham at Hwy 7/Leslie. This also helps remove the need for the Yonge North extension which I agree makes sense to just go to Steeles. Furthermore, a western elevated OL extension along the Queensway would be my choice, as there is massive development happening there and no transit planned (Humber Bay will be in walking distance and have the future Park Lawn GO). -The Eglinton West extension to Mississauga is probably something that will be needed far down the road but for now I think that improved BRT service in the transitway can more than handle demand. I would cut this. -The Finch line should definitely be extended down to Woodbine GO, but I disagree about the eastern extension to Downsview. It's very costly for what can be done by travelling one stop south on Line 1.

Very insightful!! Thanks reece!

If they had the money, they should have done a Finch-Sheppard subway (Line 6, down the YSSE to Finch West and east along Sheppard). Agree that Yonge extension should've stopped at Steeles.

Love this video! LOL Ideal imaginations but realistic hehe

Better connections between YRT and GO could make up some of the gaps that would result from not bringing the subway to RHC, such as the Unionville GO/VIVA Purple Stop which is a fairly long unpleasant walk at the moment. Improved GO service on the Richmond Hill Line would really help too. I have taken VIVA Purple/Blue then the Yonge Subway to Union Station before and not once did taking the GO train even cross my mind. That would manage a good number of trips the RH Extension would be used for. Extending non-rush hour service on that GO line would also be great for the crowds you see on the subway when there's a Leafs or Jays game.

I think it's a mistake to limit your fictional budget to the actual budget, as policy and the will to publicly finance infrastructure project is one of the most important criteria on the quality of a public transit.

I am an Australian who lived in Toronto - Sheppard/Victoria Park - from 1970 to 1975. My old 1970 road map shows that there was no development north of Finch and since Toronto extended to Steeles, the TTC could provide an excellent service for the whole of the Toronto area, which it did. However, Toronto has now sprawled way past Steeles into other regions and this seems to be the main cause of many problems; namely trying to interface transport between the various regions. Surely it is time for the Province to take control of transit in the GTA. Surely the size of the GTA demands one authority who can look at the “big picture” and provide a properly thought out integrated system. If the Province did assume full control, would that suddenly unleash more money to accelerate the backlog of projects?

I want all of this, but with some small, non subway additions that will make the network truly shine. Firstly I'd love streetcar extensions that would integrate the St. Claire streetcar line into the rest of the network, create more dedicated tramways, and create more car-free corridors downtown. Secondly, I’d love more BRT lines outside of Old Toronto to fill in the gaps between subway lines. Toronto already has great bus service with 5-10 minute frequency, but it’s much slower than it could be due to needlessly tight stop spacing and a lack of bus lanes on congested corridors. It wouldn’t have to be elaborately overbuilt for the service it offers, like the Viva transitway, but just have better spacing and dedicated lanes where needed or available like Vancouver’s Rapid Bus.

First time commenting just to support more Canadian transit planning videos.

Hey Bro, love the content and your expertise. One piece of advice though...think about a vacation in the Caribbean, a little sunshine does us all well....:)

....how far you've come Reece. You're becoming quite the man...😁😁

I agree on the sheppard extensions to scarborough and sheppard west

The Sheppard West extension absolutely makes sense. And I get the point of the hook into the YSSE to have a continuous trip along that route... but honestly that strikes me as reminiscent of the original interlining experiment from the 1960s. I dont think that would serve the city well, especially given how we are not used to that type of mentality when it comes to how we ride the subway. I believe it would be better to have Sheppard turn north, and then run further west along Finch towards Humber/the Airport. This would give a further 2 or 3 interchange stations with line 1, and give us a proper cross town line on the north side of the 401.

Bruh our preferred plans are soooooooo similar. Even the Finch West extension to downsview park. Wow

Probably a long shot but I’d love to see a video like this on Baltimore, seeing how much transit has been built up in DC and not to mention the red line controversy i would love to see your thoughts and what a network should look like

Here here! This is a great plan. The lack of connectivity - between GO and TTC - is something that I think is under emphasized so it’s good to see you highlight the Agincourt and Downsview Park transfer points. These could be really key in stitching together the whole system (along with Kennedy, Bloor, Lansdowne, and other transfer points) particularly if there is a 1-fare integration for Toronto. Having to pay an extra $5 to hop on a GO can be a disincentive to folks, as opposed to waiting for the free subway they already paid for. I definitely concur on a Line 1 extension stopping at Steeles. It makes no sense to extend to RH. Rather, finding a way to introduce frequent service on the RH Line would instead be a way better service likely to draw in RH transit users. And that would also enhance more connections by adding a 6th (7th if Milton is a Go) true RER Line.

The Honorable Mr. Reece Ford, great visionary from Ontario.

I love the thumbnail! Very emperory

I'm 100% with you on the sheppard line extensions, the line 2 using line 3 already existing path and the egl crosstown west to the miss. transit way. I think extending eglinton line 5 east to Eglinton GO would be a valuable connection as well as extending line 2 west to at the very least Sherway Gardens. And maybe down the road consider extending the ontario line north along don mills north to don mills station meeting up with line 4 as it is pretty densely populated street.

Here in Sydney I think we need a line that goes from Maroubra to Bondi, where you can change trains, then to manly and then up the northern beaches

I know this is very two years ago but for what it's worth, the King/Queen corridor is absolutely crying out for a subway. It has been for decades and I feel many cities would have identified that. The density is there, from the Beaches to Parkdale. Only a couple of others even mention this

Non-Toronto native here. a 40km commuter line from Bolton in the north-west running through Humbermede, then into Toronto along the existing freight rail corridor, would give better access to rail for more Toronto suburbs. It would also link to Line 6 and Line 5 on the subway system. Could be run with diesel railcars initially to build patronage for later electrification.

Could you make a Top5/top10 video of North American cities with greatest need for public transit?

These are great and creative suggestions, Reece. When you take politics out of transit planning, there are workable solutions. Toronto should create a position called Transit Czar!

Terrific video! I just wonder though: what’s the trade-off here? I get that emphasizing elevated lines lets you effectively get twice the coverage for the same cost, but do your plans miss anything current plans would offer? Or is it just that the tunneled lines are somehow qualitatively better?

would love to see a video like this about go transit

I'd kind of like to see what you'd make of planing out public transit in Christchurch, New Zealand (and the surrounding towns). I'm not sure if it would really be a reasonable thing to Do, all things considered, but I'd certainly be interested in the results if you did.

What does he mean by “the Spanish way” what’s different between Canada and Spain with regard to transportation infrastructure costs?

it would be cool for the Ontario line to extend to don mills in the future. 25 bus is very busy. and obv the existing Ontario line plan will make things better. but a 2-3 stop elevated extension going to don millls&lawrence, somewhere in between and don and york mills would be cool (roughly 8 km from eglinton to sheppard) there seems to be a bit of condo development in the area too

Good work.

"Somebody hire this man! He's got it all figured out!" 😆

Reece, your a big fan of loops. Why not look turning the U into a weird oval at Sheppard and make the existing other extensions as branches. I would think that you would then be able to fit more trains in the loop.

Two way all day service on the Richmond Hill line to anywhere beyond Langstaff would alleviate the crowding on the Yonge line

With an aging population, many stations along Yonge line are sorely lacking escalators. Take Rosedale or Summerhill station for example. Old people can't handle the stairs as easily, especially if they go shopping. Failing to retrofit escalator in tight staircase space, at least build strips of incline surface along the stairs to drag up/down shopping carts with wheels. Do you have any creative ideas for TTC?

Elevating the entire western end of Crosstown through central Etobicoke would offend the scruples of too many upper middle class types there and Rob Ford sold off too much of the required land along the corridor to developer friends in a misguided attempt (ostensible or otherwise) to increase potential demand and therefore justify the western extension in the first place.

Your ears must be ringing. I was just telling my husband last night that maybe it'd be fun for us (your fans and yourself) to form a task force to come up with our best transit vision then make it into a petition or something.

The Finch West LRT connection to Downsview is interesting... I've sometimes had the idea to connect the Sheppard West extension to Downsview as well and Sheppard West, those two can kind of work together I guess

How about this:- a proper Queen St subway running between Long Branch and West Hill via Lakeshore Blvd West, The Queensway, Queen St W & E, and Kingston Rd with stations every ~600m to 700m. The stations would be built cut-and-cover with otherwise mostly tunneled construction between Roncesvalles and Birchmount, elevated on the Queensway, and cut-and-cover tunnel on Lakeshore and Kingston Rd. Each station would have plenty of elevators on each side so that if one shaft is down for maintenance then the other shaft would provide a back-up plus public washrooms in each station and enough security features to exclude the vagrants. This new subway would also be designed to accommodate future easterly and westerly extensions to Oshawa and Clarkson plus there would turnback tracks at least every ~5 km and each station would have platform screen doors as in Singapore with adequate heating and air conditioning in each station at platform level. Dream, dream, dream!

Your plans sound great and they all make sense. It would be a bonus if that plan about going to Malvern Town centre was extended a little more to somehow connect to the TO Zoo. The terrain getting to the zoo is challenging especially doing it in a way that the rail vibrations don't agitate the animals. The Zoo is such an under used attraction mainly because there is no great transit method to get there from downtown. As mentioned in one of my comments on your other vids, what are your thoughts on a zone system like London's Transit system? GO already has fees based on station to station distance but TTC doesn't. Having a zone system mean commuters can tap in and out in whatever methods they choose to get to a destination, whether it’s using TTC with many stops, or switching from TTC to GO and back to TTC to get from point A to point B. Has Metrolinx even considered this or is it not practical. Thanks again and I hope to learn a lot more from you vids.

i think both the city and the province should hire you with transit planning!

Some of your plans I agree with. But I think the Yonge line should be extended as far as it needs to be along with an EXPRESS line digging under the existing Line 1 serving popular stops such as Steeles Sheppard Eglinton Bloor Queen Union. I think this service should cost $1 to $2 more on top of whatever the regular fare is as it will get you to these stops much quicker. I highly doubt I'll be alive when this happens or ever happens.

What do you think of regional rail along the 401 going from Oshawa or Pickering in Durham to sauga or more west to Oakville which would switch along to 403. Connecting a range of major city centres and airport along the route aswell.

York Region could be pressured into providing the extension, if you only aloud the subway extension to start if they agree to provide the bus service.

Lots of great ideas. I particularly like your suggestion to add the Cherry St. stop and properly connect the Sheppard stump line on both ends like in the original plans (what's there now is so ridiculously embarrassing). Not keen on elevating some trains though. Too much visual clutter that would feel intrusive and divisive, like how the Gardiner feels for many.

Having grown up in Willowdale, I am intimately familiar with north central Toronto. Sheppard West bus service is frequent, but its not fun. Crowding is the rule, and it takes a LONG TIME to get between the Spadina and Yong lines. Just keep extending the subway west until it reaches Downsview station, take a breather, and then turn the attention elsewhere. Ending the line at Steeles? Maybe the money would be spent better elsewhere. I do know that buses along that stretch up to the Langstaff terminal at Highways 7 and 407 are very busy, so who knows. I also think at some point Sheppard east needs to be connected to Scarborough. Don Mills station is a very important station, but only half as important as it might be if it were connected in more than one direction. Again, there's some suburbia to traverse to get to the important hubs. Then again, I could see myself saying the same thing about stretches of the Bloor line forty years ago. One thing I've noticed is that like the movie Field of Dreams, "if you build it they will come". I mean that sometimes stations that didn't seem particularly importand at the time seem to suddenly having developments blow-up around them, incresing population density to a point where the station is suddenly woth the effort. Why did North York Centre need to be built? Well, I'm sure a lot of people are glad it did. And the land around both the Bayview and Don Mills stations on Sheppard east have exploded vertically in recent years. You know which areas around stations haven't seen much growth? The ones that aren't zoned for anything but low-density detached single-family dwellings. Zoning bylaws in too many places still think it's the 50s or 60s, and this has to change or TO will end up having no middle class.

One problem with the rerouting of Line 4 trains to the tysse: The Line 1 extension uses 6 car trains, while the Line 4 ones only use 4 car trains. Would the platforms on either section have to be retrofitted to accommodate the shorter/longer trains?

I agree with all you ideas *EXCEPT* the Line 2 eastern extension to Scarboro Centre. This is due to the difference in rolling stock between Line 2 and Line 3. You would most likely have to realign the rails the whole way along, and may have to entirely reconstruct the underpass under the Stofville line...effectively nullifying any cost savings.

Richmond Hill extension is key bro. That's where the BRT starts. If you end it on Steeles theres quite a few kilometers of Yonge without rapid transit.

What does the RMTransit version of Windsor-Quebec high speed rail look like? Where would you put the stations?

The problem with elevated track is the elevated section has a shorter life expectancy and becomes more costly long term.

0:18 Ontario Supreme leader Reece confirmed 🤣🤣🤣 I wonder how the Discord will react to this

I would add the caveat of if the sheppard line extension ends up greatly reducing the Finch bus levels, then stop it at Downsview. If ridership remains similar to current levels (50k Finch West, 20+ Finch East, 35k express) then build out a LRT all the way. And eventually Steeles.

Also, in connection with my last suggestion. The Ontario Line could continue north from Sherway mall to the Humber College/Finch Line.

How about your plans for the rest of southern Ontario? I want to know about ION, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, and where else we need transit where there isn't any whatsoever. Also I find it suprising you only mentioned the Hazel McCallion (Hurontario) Line in talking about Line 5 on the Transitway.

Catching up on your channel I just found recently. Very good as always. A few questions for you or for another video. Why did you chose line 5 to connect to the subway for Mississauga instead of Ontario line expansion to make the trip faster? I am concern if we connect line 5, it mean another transfer to get into the subway. Meaning bus + hurontario+Line 5 + line 1 just to get downtown. Is my concern valid because it sound very paintful for the largest suburb in North America. Video suggestion : could you clarify what is a metro. I am asking because it seems my definition way off. Probably because my definition influenced by the city I live in. Thanks again for your amazing content. Became a fan of transit project because of you.

Love some of these ideas, particularly in Etobicoke, but I do agree with others below the cost estimate for Sheppard W is way too low for going under the Don River. Putting some of these into reality though, I think you would have a really tough time convincing a lot of the public of using elevated guideways this much, even if they are more aesthetically pleasing than past versions and cheaper than tunneling. People have bitter tastes over the SRT and lots of people are digging in against the elevates OL, Davenport Diamond, original plans for Eglinton W, etc... Re interlining, I don't see a reason Line 2 should be the one going all the way to Malvern; it'll be a long enough line to STC and if issues at one end occur, it could bring down more of the network, even with short-turns. I am surprised that both OL up Don Mills or Line 5 East aren't mentioned here.

For the Yonge subway extension, they are thinking of people in Richmond Hill working downtown but GO trains would be better for that. Taking a subway for more than 10 stops gets tedious. For those who don't believe me, try taking the subway from Kennedy to Kipling

Please make this a series!