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It’s officially been one month since the Toronto Transit Commission’s Eglinton Crosstown Light-Rail Transit line launched and while many commuters say the ride has been smooth thus far, some believe a public inquiry is still of utmost importance.
Andrew Pulsifer, executive director of transit advocacy group TTCRiders, says everyone is “shocked.”
“It works, it’s fast, it’s reliable,” he told CBC Toronto Sunday. “People who rely on the line are saying how much of a great addition it is to their daily commute.”
Rolling out Line 5 in phases was the right decision, Pulsifer said.
“Tempering expectations is really important. I think that [the TTC] could have saved themselves a lot of harm and damage if they were more clear about that with Line 6,” he said.
“They’ve learned the lessons from the botched opening of Line 6 and have applied that to Line 5, being very clear from the get go that it’s a soft launch and that things won’t be perfect right out of the gate,” Pulsifer added.
After more than 15 years of construction, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT opened on Feb. 8. The line was initially set to open in 2020 but was repeatedly delayed due to technical problems. As of last fall, the project had amassed a price tag of over $13 billion, according to a report from Metrolinx, an increase from the $11.78 billion projected in 2018.
The line was initially set to open in 2020 but was repeatedly delayed due to technical problems. (Metrolinx)
Pulsifer said despite the positive reactions to the Eglinton LRT thus far, there are still issues to be addressed, including accessibility, transit signal priority and overcrowding.
“It’s quite crowded during peak hours especially. So one thing that we really hope that they start to move on is adding that third rail car,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot of complaints about elevators being down intermittently. So that’s definitely something that we’re keeping an eye on as well.”
A public inquiry is still a need, though, as is the re-evaluation of whether or not private-public partnership models are the way to go when building transit, Pulsifer said.
“The residents and businesses in the area absolutely deserve answers as to what took so long,” he said.
CBC Toronto reached out to the TTC for comment.
At O’Connor Station, Lucas Provias, who works at a No Frills along the line, said it was his first time taking the LRT.
“It seems to be running good,” he told CBC Toronto Sunday. “It’s nice that it’s finally open.”
Provias agrees a public inquiry is still a must.
“They should do that ‘cause a lot of that was taxpayer money,” he said. “So we should know where the money was going.”
In February, Ontario Premier Doug Ford dismissed the idea of a public inquiry, saying while it’s been a “nightmare” to get the line open, it’s time to move on. (Clara Pasieka/CBC)
Elizabeth Driffield is more of a regular rider, taking the Eglinton LRT every day to get to the gym. Before, she had to take the 34 Eglinton bus.
“I love it. It’s so much faster, so much more convenient,” she said. “That bus used to be super packed.”
The public inquiry could be a learning experience, Driffield added.
“The public inquiry could be efficient just to see where things went wrong so that in the future we can run things a bit more smoothly,” she said.
In February, Ontario Premier Doug Ford dismissed the idea of a public inquiry, saying while it’s been a “nightmare” to get the line open, it’s time to move on.
“I’m the first to come out and acknowledge the mistakes, but I’m not going to waste time on inquiry and all the nonsense, tie all these people up,” Ford said, pointing to transit officials at a news conference on Feb. 6.
“It would be different if we didn’t acknowledge it. But yeah, has it been a nightmare for all of us? One hundred per cent. The good news is we’re moving.”