$3 BILLION OR $3 BILLION? *
"LRT supporters conveniently omit the fact that it will cost almost $1 billion more for a subway to LRT transitional station at Don Mills"
Phil Prentice - Mar 26'17
I have done a present value analysis that shows that the cost of each subway/LRT transitional station is well over $1 billion in lost time over a period of 30 years per subway/LRT station when compared with all subway – The cost for an LRT in lieu of a subway connecting the Sheppard subway to Scarborough Centre is as follows:
Subway Capital Cost - $3 billion
TOTAL COST - SUBWAY - $3 BILLION *
LRT Capital Cost - $1 billion
Capital Cost - Subway/LRT Transitional Station at Don Mills and Sheppard – Up to $1 billion
Capital Cost - Subway/LRT Transitional Station at Scarborough Centre – Several $100s of millions
Lost (Waiting) Time Over Thirty (30) Years [Present Value] – At Don Mills and Sheppard Subway/LRT Transitional Station – Over $1 billion
Lost (Waiting) Time Over Thirty (30) Years [Present Value] – At Scarborough Centre Subway/LRT Transitional Station – Over $1 billion
Capital Cost - Subway/LRT Transitional Station at Scarborough Centre – Up to $1 billion
TOTAL COST – SUBWAY/LRT COMINATION – OVER $4 BILLION *
* All in 2005/2006 dollars
NOTE: Figures are based on ridership and lost time in transfers between the subway and the SRT (Scarborough RT) at Kennedy and Eglinton over the past 30 years
Now which would you rather have? – A $3-billion-dollar subway, or a $4-billion-dollar LRT?
P.S. – As proof that I’m not that far off; the cost of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is approaching (and may even be exceeding) as much as a subway would have cost along that same route!
Also, FYI; my first analology $3 Billion vs $3 Billion did not take into acount the present value of lost time
When presenting the comparison between the $1
billion cost of building a Sheppard LRT and the $3 billion cost of extending the existing Sheppard subway line to Scarborough Centre the actual cost of building the LRT was never fully made public - There was a hidden $1 billion cost of building a new transitional
station to connect the existing Don Mills and Sheppard subway station to the new Sheppard LRT – This cost was never fully disclosed or properly take into consideration - The real cost of building a Sheppard LRT would have been $2 billion – Having
said this, how many 100s of millions will it cost to build a transitional station to connect the new Sheppard LRT to the new Scarborough subway? – Not to mention the extra 18 minutes it would take to transfer from subway to LRT back to subway again -
The subway is looking like a better deal every time you look at it
* NOTE: With the exception of the unknown cost for an LRT/subway transitional station at Scarborough Centre; all costs are based approximate numbers estimated by Metrolinx approximately ten years ago, but; although
the costs would have risen since, the increase in cost would apply proportionately to both modes of transit
See also: "LRT vs Subway"
Links
My Blog
Toronto Transit Blog http://torontotransitblog.com/
Twitter
Phil Prentice (@WiteNiteI) tweeted at 2:32 PM on Sat, Feb 06, 2016:
@people The 3-stop Scarborough subway extension will get the raccoon to and from his home at McCowan and Sheppard much faster(https://twitter.com/WiteNiteI/status/696053980061921281?s=03)
Note(s):
The maps of my proposal for public transit in Scarborough are ready - The maps illustrate all or most of my key proposals and ideas - You can find the maps on this site, or at www.SmarterTracks.com, or download a PDF at https://ln.sync.com/dl/aebaf8ed0#uvk9zqg3-cz7bwzj4-9d4xtffy-q3jc335b - The PDF is interactive - After downloading it; you can scroll through the pages and see the progression of the various phases of the plan* Please be sure to Write a comment; or Share on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ *
Also visit www.SmarterTracks.com for complete details on my SmarterTracks plan
Try SimpleSite
Latest comments