Re: BY By Tommy boy Ford kicked out!!
I know it was a massive cluster**** during development, but Boston's big dig is an incredibly impressive project that makes driving in that city an absolute joy.
It's crazy expensive, but that's the type of project that Toronto needs for the future. Downtown traffic is already at critical mass and will only get worse and worse as more people move into the GTA.
There was a proper study done on it, in a couple west coast US cities but I read it years ago. Can't find the link now. The gist of it was that buses also slow traffic in a similar manner. They're clearly not as great of an obstruction, but they often have more stops and when you have 3-4 buses in place of a streetcar, the aggregate effect is greater.
HOWEVER, the biggest issue is actually infrastructure, more so than the vehicle. Dedicated right-of-ways, special turn signals, other intersection controls and the like make a way bigger difference than choice of surface vehicle. Those of course have impacts on car traffic, but at least SOMETHING'S moving (right now both car traffic AND streetcars/buses are slow in problem areas).
The problem is that in Toronto, the only room for those in many places is underground. Since we're trying to do all of this on the cheap, we cannibalized surface lanes instead. Whether we use streetcars/light rail or subways, the only real noticeable improvement in traffic will come with significantly more tunnelling. Interestingly, bus tunnels are usually more expensive than streetcar tunnels because they need more access exits, better venting, etc.
We flat-out cannot afford that without federal (and provincial) funding or crippling tax increases.
I know it was a massive cluster**** during development, but Boston's big dig is an incredibly impressive project that makes driving in that city an absolute joy.
It's crazy expensive, but that's the type of project that Toronto needs for the future. Downtown traffic is already at critical mass and will only get worse and worse as more people move into the GTA.
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