Scarborough residents want busway to replace RT until subway extension opens, group says

With the permanent shutdown of the Scarborough RT getting closer, a new report from a transit riders' group says an overwhelming majority of residents surveyed want the rail line converted into a bus right-of-way when the trains stop running next year.

The long-term replacement for the SRT will be the three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension on the TTC's Line 2. But with the project's completion not expected until 2030, buses will run from Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre for at least seven years. 

Although the idea of a dedicated busway has been floated, exactly what the replacement service will look like is still up in the air. 

"Their only plan was seven years of shuttle buses in mixed traffic, which is totally unacceptable," TTCriders spokesperson Shelagh Pizey-Allen said in an interview.

The report comes after more than a decade of controversy over the SRT and what would replace it. The original plan was to build a light-rail line, but that project was scrapped after the late Rob Ford, who was Toronto mayor from 2010 to 2014, pushed for a subway extension from Kennedy to Scarborough Town Centre, instead. The most recent estimate puts the cost of the extension at about $6 billion, with the immediate question being how buses will serve the route while construction continues.

For the study, TTCRiders surveyed 295 people last summer, most of them at an SRT station and several bus stops. According to the survey, 91.5 per cent of those polled say they want the decommissioned SRT rail line converted into a bus right-of-way that also includes bike lanes and public green space.

The report says the dedicated busway would reduce travel time and can remain in place to complement service on the subway extension, which will have fewer stops. 

For sections of the bus route that would use city streets, the report also says there is significant support for bus-only traffic lanes, similar to those on Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue.

Scarborough High Line?

In its list of recommendations, TTCriders is also calling for the entire SRT corridor to be kept in public hands and that the elevated portion not be demolished. The group wants the section east of Ellesmere Station repurposed for other uses, including an elevated park, similar to Manhattan's famous High Line.

"It's a really iconic piece of the Scarborough landscape, this elevated concrete railway, and that can actually be protected and used for years to come," Pizey-Allen said.

The TTC Board of Commissioners is scheduled to receive a final report on the plan for bus service at its April meeting.

Busway  'preferred' option, TTC says

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green says the transit agency has also been conducting public consultations on possible alternatives to the SRT service. He says they're hearing a story that's similar to the findings from the TTCriders survey. The bus right-of-way is the "preferred" option, according to Green.

"There are some practical issues in terms of the infrastructure that would have to be dealt with before we could just put buses in that right of way, but certainly that's something that is very much on our radar," he said in an interview.

Decommissioning the SRT and preparing it for buses could take until 2025, according to a feasibilty study, and Green says shuttle buses will have to run in traffic until that time.

The proposal from TTCriders to incorporate bike lanes in the right-of-way may not be possible, according to Green.

"The fact is that that right-of-way just isn't wide enough to accommodate cycling and buses," he said.

Lack of awareness about closure

SRT service is scheduled to end in the fall of next year. But according to the TTCriders report, many people who use the transit line aren't aware they'll be riding buses for the following seven years.

"Politicians are sort of counting on people not knowing this is happening, not knowing who to blame, and not knowing that there are solutions that can mitigate the impact of the closure," Pizey-Allen said.

According to the TTCRiders report, 63.3 per cent of those surveyed didn't know the change was coming.

The TTC has been making residents aware of the closure through its consultations and, according to Green, public information will ramp up once a decision on the bus service happens later this year.

"There's no point just going out and saying, 'We're shutting down the SRT.' We need to say. 'We're shutting down the SRT and here's what we're doing about it,'" Green said.

"So that's the work that will be done once it goes to our board in April."