Second point:
There are intersections every ~100 m downtown, I don't see east-west surface streetcars being conducive to a 30 minute city for anything south of Bloor, even if the streetcars become significantly faster over the next 2-3 years.
Somewhat related example: BMO Field is a mere 3.5 km away from Union by walking. And yet it takes 30 minutes by 509 streetcar (+ short walk). Basically anyone south of College-ish, west of Dufferin that works in the Financial District is in violation of Marchetti's constant right now. (Yes Lakeshore West exists, but are 15 minute frequencies good enough? What about door to door walking that includes the longer walk to/from the GO train)
Now I know Marchetti isn't a hard and fast rule, but it's a good aspiration to have. Toronto being 1 hour away from Toronto is not a good thing.
Plenty of streetcar served areas west of Dufferin will still have 30+ min trips even after the speed initiatives.
Humber Bay Shores et al seems forgotten about at this point (GO station(s) when?) In an ideal Toronto, all the streetcars would stay, but more radial subway lines would cut east-west linking downtown to downtown-adjacent areas and beyond.
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https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/u...ucation-Labour-Commuting-Language-of-Work.pdf
I agree w/the vision of getting as many commutes as possible below 30 minutes.
I think what follows is not a need to discusses counter-factuals on how easy this would have been had different choices been made decades ago, but rather what choices can be made to further it now.
Infill GO Stations at Park Lawn, Liberty Village and Bloor on GO Lines that run service every 15M or better 6am-1am 7 days a week will go some distance in that direction.
The King Car would benefit with even one major pedestrian plaza in the area of John Street, some stop reductions and assertive TSP can absolutely hit good numbers.
So can the 509 with some(extended to Dufferin Loop, at least) with some (mostly) minor tweaks. (1 stop removal, 1 traffic light removal, assertive TSP, proper door closing (no having passengers reopen doors once closed) would do quite well. There are ways for it to better, but they are more expensive. The line really only needs to avoid one intersection today, which is Bathurst/Fleet/Lakeshore but tunnelling , briefly, wouldonly make sense if the site on the s/e corner of the intersection were purchased, so as to allow gentler curves and higher track speeds; but at ~400-650M by my estimates, I think its tought to justify and that cost doesn't include addressing the 511 which crosses that intersection as well.
If the tunnel could be kept shallow'ish....there is just enough room , I think (napkin math) to send Bathurst under the intersection as well, but turning left and rising in time to meet the existing tracks on the bridge.
There is sufficient room in the ROW to separate the tracks on Bathurst into their own ROW up to Queen. (the bridge may be an issue)
A gap between E-W rapid transit would remain from 1km north of Queen to 1km south of Bloor from Bathurst westward. There the question is really how much we can get out of the existing streetcar system.
The answer lies on College. IF you are willing to remove on-street parking, there is sufficient room in the ROW to separate the tracks on College from Manning in the west to Bay in the east.
Once you do that, with stop rationalizations , we should be able to fight endless with Transportation about removing 2-3 no longer needed traffic lights.
