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Depsite plans to open a busway in the borough, Scarborough residents say they’re being left behind as major transit lines open across Toronto.
Rhoda Potter, president of the Agincourt Village Community Association, has lived in Scarborough for more than 50 years and says her community is waiting to see a subway line come to fruition.
“Many people in Scarborough cannot afford a car. They need to take public transit and it takes them hours to get anywhere,” she said.
Potter says she’s been attending Metrolinx meetings and talking with MPs to advocate for her community
Scarborough has been without a subway line since the Scarborough RT shut down in 2022 after a train derailment. In the meantime, the city put in designated bus lanes and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow recently announced that a busway will open on the old RT route in September.
But Potter said the busway does not solve Scarborough’s “desert of of higher order public transit.”
The city is planning the Eglinton East light-rail transit project that would, per its website, serve eastern Scarborough from Kennedy Station to Malvern Town Centre. But community members in Scarborough haven’t heard about a timeline for the project.
More focus on getting downtown, not around Scarborough: resident
Krissan Veerasingam is the board co-chair for TTCriders, a volunteer advocacy group of transit riders. He grew up in Scarborough.
“It feels like everywhere else, transit is being invested in and projects are being completed,” he said. “Whereas in Scarborough, we’ve actually gone backwards in terms of the transit infrastructure we had.”
WATCH | CBC Toronto tested three ways to get around Scarborough to see what’s fastest:
What’s the fastest way to get around Scarborough?
With the Scarborough RT down, CBC Toronto put three modes of transportation to the test to see whether driving, cycling or transit would be the fastest way to get from Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre.
The long-delayed Finch West LRT opened on Dec. 7. And the Eglinton Crosstown, even further delayed, recently completed its last day of testing. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said it could open in 2026 or “very soon after.”
Potter says better transit options are needed to speed up travel within Scarborough and east-end Toronto. But, she says, most interim solutions and in-the-works developments, like bus rapid transit and the Scarborough Subway Extension, are geared towards transporting people to the city’s core.
“We need to be able to get around here as well. We don’t all want to go to Union,” she said.
The ‘transit poverty’ gap
Veerasingam says the interim bus lanes implemented by the city are a “Band-Aid solution,” and that a transit line like the Eglinton East LRT would require financial backing from the province and the federal government.
“When we don’t prioritize these projects that serve the most underserved people in our community, the effect is felt wider than just this transit project,” said Veerasingam.
WATCH | Cost of subway extension in Scarborough reaches $10.2B:
Estimated cost for Scarborough subway extension climbs to $10.2B
Construction of the three-stop Scarborough subway extension has been underway since 2021 and has faced many delays. As CBC’s Tyler Cheese explains, new information on the cost of the project is now being revealed.
The lack of public transit excludes community members from opportunities that could support socio-economic advancement, says Steven Farber, a professor of transportation geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus.
“That makes it much harder for those folks to just go out and conduct their normal daily life activities, whether it’s getting to school, taking care of kids, visiting family, getting to work, medical appointments,” he said.
Farber calls this phenomenon “transportation poverty” gap.
“The longer we wait to start correcting this situation, the worse things are going to get for everyone,” he said.
The Eglinton East LRT is especially important for Scarborough, Farber says, because it would serve as a connection between communities deep within the borough.
Potter says a transit line in Scarborough would also increase employment and economic opportunities.
“We are becoming inundated with condo development and housing, where everybody has to go somewhere else to go to work,” said Potter. “If you put in the public transit system, we know that businesses are attracted to that.”
City council has approved an early stage “10 per cent functional design” plan for the Eglinton East LRT, which was submitted to the province, according to a statement from city spokesperson Laura McQuillan.
She says the city will work on a “30 per cent design” expanding on the initial plan in 2026.
As for funding, city spokesperson Saira Virani, “commitments from our provincial and federal partners will be confirmed as the project progresses.”