Two weeks ago I was the guest of the City of Toronto Planning Department, part of its Feeling Congested program to explore transit options for the city. While there I did a series of meetings and workshops, including the following public address at St. Paul's Church. Only about 1/3 of it is specific to Toronto, and at this stage it's probably the best video of me so far. Thanks to everyone involved, as credited below!
Jarrett Walker Presentation "Abundant Access" from DeepCITY Project on Vimeo.
Thanks for putting this up! Though I ran into some friends, I know quite a few people who couldn’t attend who will enjoy this. You should definitely put up a video of the Q&A, as I thought that ended up being one of the best parts of the evening.
One question I have is what should we do with the quagmire that is the Sheppard line? Personally I think we should retrofit it to allow the light rail vehicles which will be operating along parts further east to continue through to Yonge, but would like to know your take on the situation.
Finally, thank you for visiting our city again. You are welcome here any time 🙂
Ben. I like your idea. It’s a conundrum. Another possibility is to leave it is an oddity and plan continuous LRT connecting Finch W and Sheppard E.
I fit the exact profile suggested by Ben: I was away from Toronto the day of this presentation and am now watching it from a distance (of both time and space).
With regards to the #4 Sheppard line (subway), my understanding is that the current tunnel is improperly shaped to allow an LRT vehicle, which is a large part of the rationale behind the (as of now) current plan to have a long platform connection between the western terminus of the LRT and the eastern terminus of the subway. I believe I learned that from Steve Munro’s blog, but after 5 minutes of digging up the reference threw in the towel.
It is possible, of course, that there was more to the discussion for those of you present – so I hope that I am providing an answer to the question you asked!