Will the Eglinton Crosstown Improve General Happiness?
By Penny on Apr 11, 2014
Frustrations with transportation arise in every booming city, the symptoms however, are more serious than just a few congested roads. Recent studies indicate that long commutes to and from work are making us wretchedly miserable! Not to worry though, the Eglinton Crosstown and The Big Move are enhancing rapid transit service in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).
What is the Crosstown and The Big Move?
Research conducted by experts at the Board of Trade reveal that GTHA-ians have the worst commute in the continent, with an average of 82 minutes/day from home to work. (See where your commute fits in by using this calculator) They also realized that this ends up costing about $6 billion in lost productivity per annum. Something needed to be done. The response, by Metrolinx (in 2008) was to develop “One of the largest infrastructure and service improvement plans in North America,” that will facilitate transportation from Hamilton to Newmarket to Oshawa and across Toronto. This 25-year project will cost approximately $50 billion, with 53 km of new Light Rail, 60 km of Bus Rapid Transit, 9 km of new subway extension and 25 km of new rail that links the airport to downtown Toronto.
The Office of National Statistics looked into the effects long commutes (between 61 to 90 minutes) have on people and discovered that “In general, all commuters are less satisfied with life, have a lower sense that their daily activities are worthwhile, are less happy, and have higher anxiety than those who don’t commute,” reported the Daily Mail.
The worst type of commute? The bus. Great news: the Crosstown is a light rail transit system (LRT) that will reliably transport commuters to and from its 25 stops (which link to 54 bus routes, three subway stations and several GO Transit lines). Moving along according to the flow of traffic, this system, at full capacity, can carry 163 people (a regular bus carries 48 people maximum). Imagine getting that many people out of their cars on a daily basis! These LRT vehicles will be replacing 50 of those dreaded buses and are equipped to travel underground for 10 km with their own lane, meaning, people can get to where they’re going quicker… How much quicker? The Crosstown representatives are estimating that this system will be 60% quicker than the regular bus system.
Covering such an impressive expanse, residents from upcoming developments like The Hub by Empire Communities will be able to catch the LRT at the Oakwood Station. Bazis’ E Condos residents will catch the Crosstown at the Yonge underground station, ICON Homes’ Silverthorn Heights purchasers will catch it at Keele and Caledonia Stations, and many more will benefit from the new transit system!
